Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg agrees to testify in House GOP probe, but not on their timetable
Fox News
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Friday declined to testify about his prosecution of former President Donald Trump to House lawmakers next week.
In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., Bragg’s general counsel, Leslie Dubeck, said the district attorney has “scheduling conflicts” that will keep him from appearing before Congress. However, Dubeck indicated that Bragg may be open to cooperating with the committee in the future.
“This Office is committed to voluntary cooperation,” Dubeck wrote in a letter first reported by Politico. “That cooperation includes making the District Attorney available to provide testimony on behalf of the Office at an agreed-upon date, and evaluating the propriety of allowing an Assistant District Attorney to testify publicly about an active prosecution to which he is assigned. However, the proposed date that the Subcommittee selected without consulting the Office presents various scheduling conflicts.”
House Republicans have sought to drag Bragg into Congress on June 13 to answer questions about his prosecution of Trump, who was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records brought by the district attorney.
REP JORDAN URGES CONGRESS TO ‘DEFUND LAWFARE ACTIVITIES’ OF TRUMP PROSECUTORS
Trump, who maintains his innocence, has called the prosecution a “witch hunt” coordinated by President Biden and Democrats with the intention of kneecapping his presidential campaign. Biden and Bragg have separately denied this accusation, though Republicans continue to allege prosecutors were politically motivated. Bragg had campaigned for office on a promise to “get Trump.”
In the letter, Dubeck criticized the Judicairy Committee’s invitation for Bragg to testify, writing that Jordan “has not made clear the scope of the proposed testimony.”
WHAT’S NEXT FOR TRUMP LEGALLY? WHICH CASE MIGHT COME UP BEFORE ELECTION DAY?
Dubeck also wrote that the upcoming sentencing hearing for Trump on July 11 and ongoing proceedings in the trial and appellate courts may prevent Bragg from testifying. Trump has said he will appeal his criminal conviction.
Dubeck wrote, “to participate in a public hearing at this time would be potentially detrimental to those efforts.”
TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL
She asked the committee to negotiate a new hearing date with Bragg’s office and clarify what exactly Republicans want Bragg to testify about.
“Everything is on the table as to what is next,” said Stefanie Farrell, a spokesperson for Chairman Jordan.
Earlier this week, Jordan told Fox News Digital he is proposing an appropriations package that would “defund the lawfare activities” of state and federal prosecutors leading “politically sensitive investigations,” pointing specifically to Special Counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
In addition to his criminal conviction in New York, Trump is currently awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether he is immune from charges brought against him by Smith in his Jan. 6 investigation; awaiting a trial date on charges brought from Smith’s classified records case; and awaiting a trial date on charges brought by Willis in Georgia.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/manhattan-da-alvin-bragg-agrees-testify-house-gop-probe-timetable