Legal expert flabbergasted by number of charges facing Trump
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy McCarthy discusses the Manhattan DA's case against the former president.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office has fired back at House Republicans who are demanding documents and testimony about their case against former President Donald Trump, calling the GOP lawmakers' demands "unlawful political interference" in an ongoing criminal case.
In a letter sent Friday to three top House Republican chairmen, Leslie B. Dubeck, the general counsel for Bragg’s office, slammed their "baseless and inflammatory allegations that our investigation is politically motivated." Trump is the first American president to be indicted on criminal charges.
"The Committees' attempted interference with an ongoing state criminal investigation — and now prosecution — is an unprecedented and illegal incursion on New York's sovereign interests," Dubeck wrote.
Bragg has been investigating Trump's alleged involvement in hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet about claims she had an illicit affair with Trump years before while he was running for president. Trump has denied having sexual encounters with Daniels and denies falsifying business records to keep the payment concealed.
TOP HOUSE, SENATE REPUBLICANS OUTRAGED ABOUT TRUMP INDICTMENT: ‘A DARK DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY’
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, left, leaves his office in New York on Thursday. Bragg became the first prosecutor in U.S. history to charge a former or sitting president when he filed his indictment against former President Donald Trump. (ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)
In a historic move, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump on charges related to the case. The indictment is currently sealed and the exact nature of the charges is unknown. Trump has called the investigation a "witch hunt," and numerous Republican officials have expressed outrage at the charges and accused the Democratic prosecutor of being politically motivated.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and the other top Republicans on the Administration and Oversight committees sent a letter to Bragg last week demanding that he turn over documents related to his Trump investigation and testify before Congress after reports said that Trump could face an indictment.
Responding, Bragg's office said, "We will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process, nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law."
Dubeck's letter reiterates that position. It also argues that Congress does not have a legitimate purpose in seeking information on the Trump case, and that such a review by lawmakers "is an improper and dangerous usurpation of the executive and judicial functions."
Former President Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on March 4, 2023. Trump is the first current or former American president to be indicted on criminal charges. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Even worse, based on your reportedly close collaboration with Mr. Trump in attacking this Office and the grand jury process, it appears that you are acting more like criminal defense counsel trying to gather evidence for a client than a legislative body seeking to achieve a legitimate legislative objective," the letter charged.
Answering GOP accusations that Bragg's office is using federal funds to prosecute Trump, Dubeck writes that the DA's office has contributed more than $1 billion to the federal government through asset forfeiture funds in the past 15 years, and that only a "small fraction" of those funds are received by the district attorney.
DA records indicate that approximately $5,000 was spent on expenses incurred relating to the Trump or Trump Organization investigations, and that none of those expenses were paid for with funds received through federal grant programs, according to the letter.
The letter concludes with a harsh rebuke of Republican efforts to exercise oversight over the district attorney's investigation.
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE DEMANDS MANHATTAN DA ALVIN BRAGG TESTIFY ABOUT POSSIBLE TRUMP INDICTMENT
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and other top Republicans sent a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office demanding documents and testimony on their criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump. Bragg's office has staunchly refused, accusing the GOP lawmakers of unlawful political interference. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"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.' 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," Dubeck wrote.
"Instead, you and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges and made unfounded allegations that the Office’s investigation, conducted via an independent grand jury of average citizens serving New York State, is politically motivated," she continued.
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"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."
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