House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Friday requested testimony from Matthew Colangelo, senior counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, ramping up his investigation into DA Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
“Given your history of working for law-enforcement entities that are pursuing President Trump and the public reporting surrounding your decision to work for the New York County District Attorney’s Office, we request your cooperation with our oversight in your personal capacity,” Jordan, a Trump ally, wrote in a letter to Colangelo.
He asked Colangelo to hand over a slew of documents and communications related to his employment in the DA’s office, as well as investigations into Trump and his business, to the committee. He also asked Colangelo to schedule a “transcribed interview” with committee staff by April 21.
In the letter, Jordan insisted that the Manhattan DA’s “unprecedented prosecutorial conduct” needs oversight to inform potential future legislative changes. He also implied that the aim of the committee’s investigation is to prevent “politically motivated prosecutions of current and former Presidents.”
The Manhattan DA’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After Bragg’s investigation into Trump led a grand jury in New York City to indict the former president last week, his allies quickly rallied to his defense, blasting Bragg’s case against him.
Colangelo, who previously worked as a senior official in the Justice Department, was hired by the Manhattan DA’s office last December to focus, in part, on sensitive and high-profile white collar investigations.
Jordan has ramped up his investigation into Bragg in recent weeks. On Thursday, he subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz, a former New York prosecutor who had led an investigation into Trump’s finances and publicly criticized Bragg for not charging the former president sooner.
Bragg has repeatedly hit back at congressional Republicans’ efforts to investigate his criminal case against Trump. In a statement responding to the subpoena, Bragg accused them of trying to “undermine” the case through “an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation.”
“Repeated efforts to weaken state and local law enforcement actions are an abuse of power and will not deter us from our duty to uphold the law,” Bragg wrote in the statement that was shared to Twitter.
Trump was arrested and surrendered to authorities at the Manhattan courthouse earlier this week. He pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his alleged role in hush money payments made during the end of the 2016 presidential election cycle.
Source – NBC News
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