Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the man behind an indictment against former President Donald Trump over 2016 hush money payments, has filed suit in federal court to block the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee from access to grand jury information in the case.
According to NBC News' report on the suit, Bragg called the panel's efforts to delve into the hush-money case an "unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack" of an ongoing investigation.
His lawsuit, filed Tuesday, said allowing the demands made by committee Chair Jim Jordan, including his subpoenaing of former assistant DA employee Mark Pomerantz, would cause "imminent irreparable harm if the secret and privileged material is compelled to be disclosed."
Bragg's full statement on the matter, issued in a news release Tuesday afternoon, said the attempt would undermine legal process: "Chairman Jordan's subpoena is an unconstitutional attempt to undermine an ongoing New York felony criminal prosecution and investigation.
"As our complaint details, this is an unprecedented, illegitimate interference by Congress that lacks any legal merit and defies basic principles of federalism. The Manhattan D.A.'s Office focuses on the law and the evidence, not political gamesmanship or threats. We look forward to presenting our case in court to enjoin enforcement of the subpoena."
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York, and sought to keep the committee from enforcing its Pomerantz subpoena.
The release from Bragg's office said: "Pomerantz, a former special assistant district attorney, has previously indicated that he would follow the Office's instruction not to provide the committee with information or materials relating to his work in the DA's Office. Mr. Pomerantz is named as a defendant so that he may continue to abide by the Office's instruction without facing a risk of contempt proceedings."