Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan prosecutor who led an investigation into Trump’s finances, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during his deposition before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
The GOP-led committee is conducting oversight of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “unprecedented indictment” of a former U.S. president.
Former President Donald Trump in March became the first-ever U.S. president to be criminally charged in a case brought by Bragg. Trump pleaded not guilty in April to the 34 felony counts (pdf) of falsifying business records.
As part of the House Judiciary Committee’s oversight, Pomerantz was subpoenaed to provide testimony. Bragg sued in an attempt to block the congressional subpoena, but a judge denied his request.
In Pomerantz’s opening statement on Friday, he called the GOP-led committee’s investigation “political theater.”
He said he was appearing to testify “as required” because “I respect the rule of law.”
“What I do not respect is the use of the Committee’s subpoena power to compel me to participate in an act of political theater,” he said in the statement. “This deposition is for show. I do not believe for a moment that I am here to assist a genuine effort to enact legislation or conduct legislative ‘oversight.’”
“Although the rule of law compels me to be here, it does not require that I play a substantive role in your theatrical production. Under the law, I can decline to answer your questions for several reasons.”
Subpoenaed to Testify
Pomerantz had pushed for an indictment against Trump after having led a probe into the former president’s hush money payments that took place prior to the 2016 election.
The former prosecutor left the Manhattan district attorney’s office in February 2022 because he disagreed with Bragg’s initial decision not to pursue a criminal case against Trump. Pomerantz later released a memoir about the case.
