The Democrats’ lead lawyer in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump is planning to enter a packed field running for New York’s newly drawn 10th Congressional district that covers lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Daniel Goldman, the chief Democratic House Intelligence Committee lawyer during the first impeachment trial of Trump, is expected to announce a run for the seat, Axios reported Tuesday.
He will face several contenders like former Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Mondaire Jones, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou and Councilwoman Carlina Rivera in the Democratic primary for the open seat.
Goldman, who lives in the district and was rumored to be eyeing a run for weeks, ran for New York attorney general last year, but dropped out after incumbent Attorney General Letitia James announced she would run again.
The former assistant US attorney took center stage back in 2019 as the Democrats’ lead counsel during Trump’s impeachment investigation.
He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in New York, where he took down Mafia bosses and corrupt Wall Street executives before joining Congress as general counsel for the House Intelligence Committee in early 2019.
The NY-10 district was left up for grabs when incumbent Rep. Jerrold Nadler announced he would vacate the seat when his Upper West Side neighborhood was cut out of it. Instead, the veteran congressman will run against former longtime ally and fellow Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney in her newly redrawn 12th District, which now includes Nadler’s address.
The Post reported last week that Jones, who currently reps the 17th Congressional district, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had made phone calls to discourage Goldman from entering the race, according to Democratic sources.
Goldman’s camp did not deny Jones’ claim that Pelosi spoke to him about the primary race and favored Jones.
“As the lead counsel of the House’s first impeachment of Donald Trump, Dan Goldman talks frequently with members of Congress. He does not share those conversations publicly,” a source close to Goldman previously told The Post.
A spokesperson for Pelosi said that she has yet to make any endorsements in the race and hasn’t discouraged anyone from running.