House Republicans reject Manhattan DA's request for more information on hush money probe

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House Republicans reject Manhattan DA's request for more information on hush money probe

Three House Republican Chairmen have rejected a letter from the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, seeking more information related to the hush money probe that could lead to an indictment of former President Donald Trump.

In a letter to Bragg on Saturday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil argued that Congress should not be privy to documents or testimony in the ongoing investigation into a $130,000 payment made during Trump's 2016 campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The matter does not simply involve local or state interests, contrary to the central argument set forth in your letter. The possibility of a criminal indictment of a former President of the United States by an elected local prosecutor of the opposing political party implicates substantial federal interests, particularly in a jurisdiction where trial-level judges are popularly elected. Bragg, who had fired back at the Republicans last week for requesting his testimony before Congress about the investigation, pushed back again in a statement shared on Twitter Saturday evening.

We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence. Bragg wrote that it is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending investigations. The prosecutors' legitimate work is undermined by the unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter. The three Republican chairs had requested Bragg's testimony in a letter last week. They wrote Monday that they 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.

Trump falsely predicted last weekend in a post to his social media platform Truth Social that he would be arrested Tuesday. A decision is yet to be made in the grand jury investigation.

The move was the first investigatory action from the committees after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, pledged to scrutinize the people who have been investigating Trump.

The Manhattan DA slammed the Republicans on Thursday, arguing that they had overstepped with their request. Leslie Dubeck, general counsel for the Manhattan DA s office, called their request for Bragg's testimony an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution, which only occurred after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Trump has warned of potential death and destruction if the DA indicts him in a Truth Social post early Friday, and has escalated his attacks against Bragg and the probe.

Later that day, two law enforcement sources told NBC News that the FBI and the New York Police Department were investigating a letter containing a death threat and white powder mailed to Bragg's office.