Manhattan DA sues Rep. Jordan over Trump indictment inquiry

April 11, 2023  -NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sued Rep. Jim Jordan on Tuesday, an extraordinary move as he seeks to halt a House Judiciary Committee inquiry that the prosecutor contends is a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” him over his indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Bragg, a Democrat, is asking a judge to invalidate subpoenas that Jordan, a Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, has or plans to issue as part of an investigation of Bragg’s handling of the case, the first criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president.

Bragg’s lawsuit, a forceful escalation after weeks of sparring with Jordan and other Republican lawmakers in letters and media statements, seeks to end what it says is a “constitutionally destructive fishing expedition” that threatens the sovereignty and sanctity of a state-level prosecution.

“Congress lacks any valid legislative purpose to engage in a free-ranging campaign of harassment in retaliation for the District Attorney’s investigation and prosecution of Mr. Trump under the laws of New York,” the lawsuit says, citing the lack of authority in the Constitution for Congress “to oversee, let alone disrupt, ongoing state law criminal matters.”