Manhattan DA Rebuffs ‘Unprecedented’ House GOP Request For Information on Trump Case
© (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
LATROBE, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 05: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport November 5, 2022 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Trump campaigned at the rally for Pennsylvania Republican candidates including Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano ahead of the midterm elections to be held on November 8th. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The Manhattan district attorney on Thursday rejected a request from three House Republican committee chairmen earlier this week demanding his testimony and relevant documents as he weighs a possible indictment against former President Donald Trump.
Calling the move an “unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s general counsel wrote on his behalf, arguing that the request only came because former President Donald Trump created a “false expectation” that he would be arrested on Tuesday. Bragg’s office urged that compliance with the letter would interfere with law enforcement, usurp executive powers and violate New York’s sovereignty.
On Monday, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky and Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, the chairmen of the House judiciary, oversight and administration committees, requested the testimony and documents related to the hush-money case involving an adult film star. On Wednesday, Jordan sent additional letters to two former prosecutors who resigned from the district attorney’s office demanding their testimony related to Bragg’s expected action on Trump.
“You are reportedly about to engage in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority: the indictment of a former President of the United States and current declared candidate for that office,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Bragg, arguing that the action would “erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice” and interfere in the upcoming election.
Meanwhile, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, called the GOP letter “an astonishing and unprecedented abuse of power,” while the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler wrote in a tweet that “Jim Jordan is out of control.”
“He’s trying to put his thumb on the scale for his friend Donald Trump by injecting MAGA politics into an ongoing criminal investigation,” the New York lawmaker wrote.
“It's an intimidation tactic,” Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, said of the House GOP's letter earlier this week. “Usually [with] people who try to intimidate prosecutors, it turns out the reverse. I don't think you're going to be able to intimidate a prosecutor.”
Bragg’s office called the allegations that potential prosecution would be politically motivated “unfounded,” but agreed to meet with the lawmakers to understand whether there was “any legitimate legislative purpose” in the request.
The letter to Bragg came after a number of prominent Republicans rushed to Trump’s aid since he said in a social media post over the weekend that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, citing what he called a “highly political” Manhattan’s district attorney’s office while urging his supporters to protest. An indictment related to the former president’s role in the hush money scheme involving Stormy Daniels, an adult film actor who alleges that she had an extramarital affair with Trump, has been widely anticipated. But the timing remains unclear.
– Susan Milligan contributed to this report
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