Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg to face congressional hearing on Donald Trump prosecution
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and one of the trial team prosecutors in former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial have agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12, the day after Trump's sentencing, according to Bragg's office.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., requested testimony from Bragg and Matthew Colangelo – a member of Bragg's team who has drawn special ire from Trump – in May 31 letters that he posted on X (formerly Twitter). Jordan said the hearing will focus on the "weaponization" of the federal government, echoing an accusation Trump has leveled without evidence that the Biden administration - not Bragg as a New York state prosecutor - was behind the case.
The hearing could get testy, coming one day after Trump will learn his criminal sentence. Jordan and Bragg will finally come face-to-face on a televised national stage after more than a year of tension over Bragg's prosecution against Trump.
Trump was convicted by unanimous jury verdict on May 30 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a conspiracy to unlawfully interfere in the 2016 election through a scheme involving a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
"It undermines the rule of law to spread dangerous misinformation, baseless claims, and conspiracy theories following the jury’s return of a full-count felony conviction in People v. Trump," a spokesperson for Bragg said in a statement to Paste BN.
"Nonetheless, we respect our government institutions and plan to appear voluntarily before the subcommittee after sentencing,” according to the statement.
Trump accuses Biden without evidence
Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that Biden is behind his New York state case.
"D.A. Bragg fought everyone about trying this 'no crime' case, but Crooked Joe Biden’s 'Thugs' pushed him to go forward, and pushed him hard," Trump posted on Truth Social on March 26.
In trying to paint the portrait of a conspiracy, Trump has noted that Colangelo is a former U.S. Justice Department official who later joined New York Attorney General Letitia James office, where he worked on the civil fraud case against Trump. That resulted in a $454 million judgment against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Colangelo was appointed senior counsel in Bragg's office in December 2022 to focus on housing and labor protection as well as the office's "most sensitive and high-profile white-collar investigations," according to an announcement.
Biden's "Thugs" sent Colangelo "to directly oversee the D.A., perhaps to make sure that Bragg followed their illegal orders and commands," Trump claimed without evidence.
Hearing could get testy
In his letters to Bragg and Colangelo, which initially proposed a June hearing date, Jordan said the hearing "will examine actions by state and local prosecutors to engage politically motivated prosecutions of federal officials, in particular the recent political prosecution of President Donald Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office."
Elsewhere, Jordan has made clear he wants to find evidence that would actually back Trump's claim. In an April 30 press release, the committee said it was demanding documents from Attorney General Merrick Garland on the Justice Department's "coordination" with Bragg and with Bragg's prosecution - although like Trump, it didn't provide any evidence of coordination.
Garland already pushed back forcefully against such claims in testimony last week before the committee.
"These repeated attacks on the Justice Department are unprecedented and unfounded," Garland said. "I will not be intimidated."
On Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte sent a letter to the committee stating the department didn't find a single email communication between any of its leadership officials and Bragg's office regarding any investigation or prosecution of Trump.
"This is unsurprising," Uriarte said, noting the two prosecuting entities are separate. "As the Attorney General stated at his hearing, the conspiracy theory that the recent jury verdict in New York state court was somehow controlled by the Department is not only false, it is irresponsible."
In a lawsuit last filed in April of 2023, Bragg accused Jordan of trying to "interfere with the state criminal justice process." Bragg was seeking to block Jordan from subpoenaing a former prosecutor in Bragg's office, Mark Pomerantz, who resigned in 2022 while voicing criticism of the failure to seek an indictment against Trump for possible financial crimes at that time. The former president was indicted in Manhattan in March of 2023. Pomerantz was ultimately deposed by the committee.
The July 12 hearing will offer an opportunity for Jordan, Bragg, and Colangelo to finally face off, one day after New York Judge Juan Merchan is slated to hand down Trump's sentence. The former president could theoretically be sentenced to as much as 20 years in prison, but legal experts largely say he will face a much lighter sentence on the counts, and could avoid incarceration altogether.
A spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contributing: Bart Jansen and Josh Meyer