Former Trump prosecutor on ‘firm ground’ despite GOP complaints: legal expert

A former Manhattan prosecutor on Friday was on sound legal ground when he declined to answer questions from the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee over the criminal investigation of Donald Trump he once led, a legal expert told CNN.

Mark Pomerantz during his opening statement called the proceeding “an act of political theater.”

“Fortunately, I do not have to cooperate with the cynical histrionics that this deposition represents,” he said.

Pomerantz said that the Manhattan District Attorney's office asked that he not discuss the case.

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Former federal prosecutor Laura Coates during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” suggested that the refusal of Pomerantz to testify before the GOP-led committee is an example of chickens coming home to roost after Republicans declined to appear before the Jan. 6 select committee.

“That was one of the issues back then, what ground will you have to stand on when one day you want to issue a subpoena, and somebody retorts that this is politically motivated and what you're seeing a little bit of is the chickens coming home to roost, but on a grander issue here, remember, if there is an ongoing investigation, let alone grand jury testimony or otherwise, you cannot disclose that,” Coates said.

“And so now there's an active investigation (Pomerantz) has some pretty firm ground to stand on to say ‘listen, a judge ought to decide whether I can be forthcoming’ and (Manhattan) DA (Alvin) Bragg has already sued, essentially saying you cannot subpoena somebody on this issue.

“So now it's one of those conundrums that a court would have to look at and say well was the chicken now coming home to roost or have you actually created an opportunity where this can now be allowed.”