Federal Appeals Court Delays Deposition of Ex-Manhattan Prosecutor in Trump Probe

A federal appeals court has delayed the congressional deposition of Mark Pomerantz, a former senior prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump.

House Republicans are seeking to question Pomerantz as part of their probe into Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg‘s (D) prosecution of Trump. Earlier this month Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a yearslong investigation into alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

According to reports from The Hill, the pause will last until a three-judge panel on the 2nd Circuit can hear a motion from Pomerantz and Bragg to pause the lower court ruling while their appeal proceeds.

“This order reflects no judgment regarding the merits of the parties’ respective positions,” the appeals court wrote in its order.

The court has put in place a quick schedule to consider the motion. Written briefs will be submitted through Saturday afternoon, and the court further directed the clerk to schedule the motion’s consideration for the first available three-judge panel.

U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, on Wednesday rejected Bragg’s bid to quash Pomerantz’s subpoena.

“In our federalist system, elected state and federal actors sometimes engage in political dogfights …The Court does not endorse either side’s agenda. The sole question before the Court at this time is whether Bragg has a legal basis to quash a congressional subpoena that was issued with a valid legislative purpose. He does not,” Vyskocil wrote.

Last week, Bragg last week filed a lawsuit against House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) to block Pomerantz’s subpoena and Jordan’s other attempts at getting information from prosecutors. 

Pomerantz served as a top prosecutor on the district attorney’s Trump case, which began under Bragg’s predecessor.