Washington(CNN) The chairmen of three House committees sent a letter Saturday to the Manhattan district attorney leading the investigation into Donald Trump, doubling down on their efforts to intervene in the hush-money investigation before it becomes possible. criminal charges against the former president.
The letter from the chairmen of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Administration committees to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg makes his case against appearing for a transcribed interview with their panels and argues that they now feel compelled to consider whether Congress should take legislative action on three separate issues “to protect former and/or current Presidents from political prosecutions by state and local officials.”
The letter — written by Republicans Jim Jordan, James Comer and Bryan Steil — comes after they first called Bragg earlier this week to testify before their committees and criticized his investigation into Trump as a ” there was no abuse of prosecutorial authority.”
Bragg is investigating Trump’s alleged role in a scheme to pay adult-film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Bragg’s general counsel initially responded on Thursday, telling House committee leaders they did not have a “legitimate basis for congressional inquiry” and announcing that their requests for information “came only after Donald Trump made a false assumption that he would be arrested the next day. and his lawyers urge you to intervene.”
The chairmen admitted in Saturday’s letter that Bragg did not dispute “the central allegations at issue” — that his office was under “political pressure from left-wing activists and former prosecutors” and ” plans to use an alleged federal campaign finance violation, previously denied by federal prosecutors, as a vehicle to extend the statute of limitations to a misdemeanor offense and indict for the first time in history a former President of the United States United.”
They argued that the potential criminal indictment of a former president and 2024 presidential candidate “involves substantial federal interest, particularly in a jurisdiction where trial-level judges are also popularly elected.”
Bragg responded to the chairmen’s letter Saturday night on Twitter, writing, “We review cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence. It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending domestic investigations. It only serves to obstruct, disturb and undermine the legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors. As always, we will continue to follow the facts and be guided by the rule of law in everything we do.”
More than ever, Jordan, Comer and Steil wrote in the letter that they could choose to consider three areas of the law, including expanding the “preemption provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act,” and added that the move may “have the effect of better delineating the prosecutorial authorities of federal and local officials in this area and blocking selective or political enforcement by state and local prosecutors of campaign finance restrictions in connection with federal elections. “
The second piece of legislation they may consider is about tying federal funding to improved metrics for public safety funds — a move they say will be prompted by allegations that the Manhattan DA is using safety funds. publicly for his investigation into Trump.
They may also consider a move to overhaul the special counsel’s authority and better delineate their relationships with other prosecution entities, they said, arguing that the circumstances of the investigation by Trump “stems, in part, from Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.”
This story has been updated with a response from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell and Paula Reid contributed to this report.
