Alvin Bragg, the Democratic Manhattan district attorney who has found himself in a searing spotlight as of late, could be facing even more heat soon.
Fox News, citing an unidentified source familiar with the case, reported Wednesday that the House Judiciary Committee is “seriously weighing” the possibility of subpoenaing Bragg and two prosecutors formerly connected to his office.
This report comes on the heels of Bragg’s office indicting former President Donald Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in relation to alleged “hush money” payments during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The New York prosecutors performed some fascinating legal gymnastics to pretzel the misdemeanor counts into felonies, claiming the falsified records were meant to conceal another crime without stating in the indictment what that crime was.
One potential crime would be a violation of federal campaign finance laws — but Bragg has no jurisdiction over federal proceedings. The Department of Justice does, but it has already passed on this case, as has the Federal Election Commission.
Given that many see the charges as frivolous and politically motivated, it should come as little surprise that House Republicans want some answers.
Since news of Trump’s possible indictment was reported last month, the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, has been joined by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky in questioning Bragg’s office.
Jordan and Comer, along with Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, chairman of the Administration Committee, sent a letter to Bragg on March 20 asking him to produce numerous records related to the Trump case.
With the Manhattan DA’s office having rejected that request, the House Judiciary Committee now is “seriously” considering subpoenas for Bragg and the two former prosecutors, Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, to testify before Congress, according to Fox News.
The report said Pomerantz wrote in a letter in 2022 that Bragg had suspended the Trump investigation “indefinitely” after taking office. Dunne and Pomerantz were leading the investigation under the former Manhattan DA, Cyrus Vance.
Both submitted their resignations in February 2022.
While issuing a subpoena to a district attorney ostensibly trying to do his job might seem a bit drastic, the move comes after Bragg’s office has made it abundantly clear it will not cooperate with GOP officials.
In a shockingly antagonistic letter Friday signed by Leslie Dubeck, general counsel in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, she told the House Republicans to back off.
“Like any other defendant, Mr. Trump is entitled to challenge these charges in court and avail himself of all processes and protections that New York State’s robust criminal procedure affords,” Dubeck wrote.
“What neither Mr. Trump nor Congress may do is interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State,” she said, ripping the GOP representatives for a line of questioning she described as “unprecedented.”
Dubeck claimed that what Jordan, Comer and Steil were requesting was “confidential information.”
After belittling the GOP congressmen, she said they needed to call for calm instead of demanding Bragg’s presence at the Capitol.
“Finally, as you are no doubt aware, former President Trump has directed harsh invective against District Attorney Bragg and threatened on social media that his arrest or indictment in New York may unleash ‘death & destruction,’” Dubeck said.
“As Committee Chairmen, you could use the stature of your office to denounce these attacks and urge respect for the fairness of our justice system and for the work of the impartial grand jury.”
She added: “We urge you to refrain from these inflammatory accusations, withdraw your demand for information, and let the criminal justice process proceed without unlawful political interference.”
Based on the Fox News report, it seems pretty clear that House Republicans have no intention of turning the temperature down in the kitchen anytime soon.
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