House GOP chairmen ask DA Bragg to testify about possible Trump indictment

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House GOP chairmen ask DA Bragg to testify about possible Trump indictment

WASHINGTON - Three House Republican committee chairmen sent Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg a letter Monday asking him to testify before Congress about what appears to be a politically motivated prosecution decision in any possible indictment of former President Donald Trump in the prosecutor's hush-money probe.

The letter said you were 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.

This indictment came after years of your office searching for a basis to bring charges, settled on a novel legal theory that was untested anywhere in the country and one that federal authorities didn't pursue. If these reports are accurate, you will erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election. The letter was signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. and House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis.

The letter was not a subpoena, but it marks the first investigation by the committees after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., promised to scrutinize the people who have been investigating Trump.

The GOP chairmen argued that the star witness of the Bragg is former longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who they alleged has a serious credibility problem. They asked that Bragg share documents from January 2017 of communications between his office and the Department of Justice, as well as other documents related to Trump. The chairmen asked that Bragg testify in a transcribed interview about these matters as soon as possible, and asked him to provide the documents and contact the committee to schedule his interview no later than 10 a.m. on Thursday.

The request for Bragg's testimony comes after Trump said on Saturday that illegal leaks indicated he would be arrested Tuesday and called for supporters to protest. Trump referred to reports on his social media platform Truth Social that he could face possible criminal charges in New York related to a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump didn't say whether he had been informed by law enforcement of a coming indictment. A spokesman for Trump later clarified that there had been no notification other than illegal leaks from the Justice Dept. The DA's office, the DA's office, and other news outlets.

NBC News reported Friday that law enforcement agencies are preparing for a possible indictment of Trump as early as this week.

The grand jury is likely to haven't returned an indictment yet because of testimony by the former legal adviser to Trump's ex-longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, who is a former legal adviser to Trump's ex-longtime lawyer.

Over the weekend, congressional Republicans voted for Trump ahead of the grand jury's decision. McCarthy gave a full defense of Trump at the House GOP Conference'sGOP Conference's retreat in Orlando, Florida, dismissing Bragg's investigation as politically motivated and saying the prosecutor is uninterested in cracking down on rising crime in New York City.

McCarthy urged calm and said Americans shouldn't protest if the former president is indicted and arrested.