Trump impeachment lawyer runs for Congress against Bill de Blasio, Rep. Mondaire Jones in New York

The prosecutor worked on House Democrats’ first impeachment of Donald Trump is running for Congress, he announced on Wednesday, aiming to clinch an empty seat that’s also being eyed-off by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Attorney Daniel Goldman is joining the race for New York’s newly-created 10th Congressional District, adding one more name to what already was a crowded six-way race. 

It’s also de Blasio’s second attempt at federal office after his widely unpopular 2020 presidential bid – which he ended in September 2029 just weeks after an event he hosted in Iowa drew just about 15 people.

‘I am running for Congress and this new 10th district because I want to get on the front lines, and back in the trenches like I did during the impeachment,’ Goldman said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

‘To fight for our democracy, defend our democracy – but also move, bring a new voice, so that we can move some of these issues forward that the Republicans – in particular – are really trying to roll back.’

Goldman was House Democrats’ lead counsel when they impeached Trump over his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he withheld Congressionally-approved military aid while pressuring the Eastern European leader to open an investigation into Trump’s then-opponent, President Joe Biden.

And it appears that his connection to Trump’s trial will be the cornerstone of Goldman’s campaign.

Daniel Goldman, who was the lead counsel for House Democrats’ first impeachment trial of Donald Trump is running for Congress in a district that covers lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn that include the affluence neighborhoods of Park Slope and Dumbo

He drilled in the link again in a Twitter post announcing his candidacy, writing after his television interview: ‘The existential threats to our democracy and fundamental rights are real & urgent.’

‘We need voices in Congress with experience and courage to defend our democracy & rights, as I did leading the impeachment investigation of Trump,’ Goldman wrote.

He also quickly distanced himself from progressive lawmakers, including ones from the Big Apple, who have pushed to ‘defund the police’ in the face of a nationwide crime wave that shows no signs of slowing.

Goldman said on MSNBC that Democrats ‘need to embrace law and order in a compassionate empathetic way’ while making no mention of law enforcement funds, and bashed Republicans as being against ‘law and order.’

The Democrat lawyer previously mounted a campaign for New York state Attorney General but dropped out of that race late last year after incumbent Letitia James announced she was exiting the Democratic gubernatorial primary to run for her current job again. James is also currently investigating the Trump Organization for potential tax fraud in a probe that’s been running since 2019. 

Current House Rep. Mondaire Jones is also vying for the empty Congressional seat in New York’s 10th District, along with New York City Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou and Councilwoman Carlina Rivera. 

Goldman hammered home his experience going after Trump in his candidacy announcement

Goldman hammered home his experience going after Trump in his candidacy announcement

The crowded race for the empty seat in New York's 10th Congressional District includes wildly unpopular former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio

Goldman is also running against Rep. Mondaire Jones, who currently represents the nearby 17th District

The crowded race for the empty seat in New York’s 10th Congressional District includes wildly unpopular former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rep. Mondaire Jones, who currently represents the nearby 17th District

New York City Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou is also considered one of the more formidable contenders in the now-seven-way race

New York City Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou is also considered one of the more formidable contenders in the now-seven-way race

The area includes downtown Manhattan as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Dumbo, Red Hook and Park Slope.

Jones currently represented the state’s 17th Congressional District, which includes parts of Westchester, just above New York City, and the lower Hudson Valley. 

He’s switching to the 10th after the new bounds of his current district would have put him in a highly competitive race against fellow progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman. 

It’s a seat that had been held by House Judiciary Chair and longtime House Rep. Jerry Nadler. But Nadler is vacating it to run for the newly-redrawn 13th District, which includes his home neighborhood of the Upper West Side.

By doing so Nadler is pitting himself against House Oversight Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a historic clash between two veteran senior legislators of the same party.

And the vacancy has also set up a power vacuum that Goldman, Jones, de Blasio and others are fighting to fill.

Jones was so wary of Goldman’s candidacy that even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made efforts to dissuade the attorney, the New York Post reported last week.

Pelosi told Goldman on at least one occasion that Jones would be ‘treated as an incumbent’ in the race, sources close to the lawmaker reportedly said.