NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 08: New York State Attorney General Letitia James (L) looks on as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks at a press conference after Steve Bannon, former advisor to former President Donald Trump surrendered at the NY District Attorney's office to face charges on September 08, 2022 in New York City. Bannon faces a new criminal indictment that will mirror the federal case in which he was pardoned by former President Donald Trump. He and others have been alleged to have defrauded contributors to a private $25 million fundraising effort to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border according. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
With an indictment of former President Donald Trump reportedly pending, House Republicans have requested information on the case from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Bragg and his office have been investigating allegations that Trump and his lawyer paid $130,000 in hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential race, and falsified business records to cover it up.
Trump incorrectly suggested he would be arrested on Tuesday.
Conservatives have almost universally condemned the investigation, calling it a political attack. Some on the far-right have accused Bragg of being a “Soros-backed” district attorney, using an antisemitic trope that he controlled by a powerful Jewish businessman.
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House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Kentucky) and House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin) requested an interview with Bragg as well as documents related to the case in a letter on Tuesday.
Jordan sent two additional letters on Wednesday night.
Leslie Dubeck, Bragg’s general counsel, responded to the request saying that it was “an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution…The Letter only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for a congressional inquiry,” she wrote in response.
After Trump predicted his own arrest, he urged House Republicans to rally behind him.
Democrats instead have backed up Bragg’s refusal to submit to the GOP request, arguing that it is not Congress’ jurisdiction to intervene in state prosecutions.
Dubeck’s letter disputed the Republican accusation that the probe into Trump’s alleged hush money payment was political in nature. Even if the accusations were credible, she argued, such a counter-probe would have to be a state affair for New York courts to rule on.
After Dubeck’s rebuttal letter, House Republicans did not immediately respond. The House Judiciary Committee’s Twitter account, however, further condemned Bragg for going after Trump and not the “actual criminals in New York City.”
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