WASHINGTON (AP) — The Manhattan district attorney investigating Donald Trump rebuffed House Republicans’ request Thursday for documents and testimony about the case, dismissing it as an “unprecedented inquiry” with no legitimate basis.
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In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the general counsel for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg slammed the congressional request as “an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty.”
“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,” Leslie Dubeck wrote in the letter. “Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry.”
The Republican chairmen of three House committees on Monday sent a letter to Bragg seeking information about his actions in the Trump case. The Republicans criticized the grand jury investigation as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.”
The chairmen requested testimony as well as documents and copies of any communications with the Justice Department to be turned over by Thursday. The request came as Republicans in the House quickly rallied around the former president as a grand jury in New York weighs whether to bring an indictment against him.
“If a grand jury brings charges against Donald Trump, the DA’s Office will have an obligation, as in every case, to provide a significant amount of discovery from its files to the defendant so that he may prepare a defense,” Dubeck wrote.
The five-page response from Bragg’s office provides a rare insight into what has remained a secret grand jury process, marking one of the first public acknowledgments that there is a sitting grand jury currently investigating Trump. The DA’s office has adhered closely to centuries-old rules that have kept grand juries under wraps to protect the reputations of people who end up not being charged and to encourage reluctant witnesses to testify.
In proceedings closed to the public and members of the media, grand jurors listen to evidence presented by prosecutors and hear from witnesses. There is no judge present nor anyone representing the accused, and prosecutors do not have to offer any evidence favorable to the defense.
The disclosure comes as the grand jury appears close to finishing its work, after hearing last week from Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, but the timing of a possible decision on whether to charge the ex-president remains uncertain. Prosecutors canceled a scheduled grand jury session Wednesday and it wasn’t planning on meeting Thursday. But law enforcement in New York has been making preparations for any unrest, should Trump face charges.
The case revolves around hush money payments during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to women who alleged sexual encounters with him. Bragg’s team appears to be looking at whether Trump or anyone committed crimes in New York state in arranging the payments, or in the way they accounted for them internally at the Trump Organization.
On Thursday, one of the GOP chairmen, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, expanded his probe into the handling of the Trump case by demanding testimony and documents from Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, two former Manhattan prosecutors who had been leading the Trump case before quitting last year in a clash over the direction of the probe.
“Last year, you resigned from the office over Bragg’s initial reluctance to move forward with charges, shaming Bragg in your resignation letter — which was subsequently leaked — into bringing charges,” Jordan, an Ohio Republican, wrote in the letter to Pomerantz late Wednesday. “It now appears that your efforts to shame Bragg have worked as he is reportedly resurrecting a so-called ‘zombie’ case against President Trump using a tenuous and untested legal theory.”
Requests for comment from Pomerantz and Dunne were not returned.
You had your 15 minutes , you white hating , cop hating , criminal lover. Cong. Jordan — please drag this lowlife into Congress asap.
While criminals run wild don’t spend a day in jail thank you DA he is going after a case he can’t win past it’s expiration date and refusing to answer questions concerning a federal alleged violation from congress. Throw the fat bum in jail. He’s the real problem along with sorros.
so this open Soros funded affirmative action hiree who got his “law degree” from probably Howard university or one of those HBCU’s that are totally worthless not openly flouts Congress and is contempt of the law but NOTHING will happen to him as Hakeem Sekou Jeffries protects him.
Nothing here to Bragg about it ,,
From Andrew Feinberg, former White House correspondent:
In his Truth Social post, Mr Trump claimed the letter from Cohen’s ex-attorney was “totally exculpatory” and said it “must end” Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s probe into whether he falsified business records in violation of New York law when he and his company reimbursed Cohen for the payments to Ms Daniels.
But Mr Trump’s claims don’t align with reality.
Not only did the Department of Justice eventually indict Cohen for making an illegal campaign contribution and conspiracy to violate US campaign finance laws, but Cohen stated in open court, under oath, that he made the payment — which was reimbursed by Mr Trump — at Mr Trump’s direction and for his benefit.
Moreover, Cohen has made public evidence showing Mr Trump and his eponymous company reimbursed him for the payments, making it anything but a “private transaction”.
Issue him a congressional subpoena and if he fails to comply arrest and jail him !!
after Cohen’s letter from lawyer there’s no case – CASE CLOSED !!!!!
DA s/b arrested and charged for wasting taxpayers money
Of course it is legitimate, why is bragg trying to indict Trump on a charge that is way past the statute of limitations even if bragg upgrades it to a felony.
Somehow the right-wing “constitutionalists” don’t believe in the Constitution when it comes to states’ rights 10th Amendment to independently prosecute alledged criminal activity. Mr. Bragg’s DA Office will run rings around Trump’s keystone kops attorneys.
Lock Bragg the rag up for contempt of congress.
Phineas don’t bore me with legal jargon. Lets just get this done legal or not. Find a loophole do what it takes