House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) threatened to issue subpoenas in a new letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday if she does not provide information about former Justice Department officials who helped prosecute former President Trump in the Manhattan hush money trial.
Tuesday’s letter reiterated that Jordan first wrote to James on May 15, requesting information and documents about Colangelo’s previous work with the New York attorney general’s office.
The House Judiciary Committee asked her to provide that information by May 29, but so far James “has not complied with or responded to our requests,” the new letter said. “The Committee continues to monitor politically motivated prosecutions by state and local authorities.” Fox News Digital reached out to the New York Attorney General’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
“A popularly elected prosecutor like New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg has committed an unprecedented abuse of power by indicting a former President of the United States and a sitting presidential front-runner,” Jordan wrote on Tuesday. “Notably, Mr. Bragg’s prosecution is being led by Mr. Colangelo, a former prosecutor who became a senior Justice Department official under the Biden Administration. As such, the Committee continues to seek information and documents related to Mr. Colangelo’s employment in the New York State Attorney General’s Office.”
Jim Jordan asks NY Attorney General for documents regarding former DOJ official at center of NY v. Trump lawsuit
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, during a hearing investigating Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This letter was first Hill, The Supreme Court has noted that Congress has a “broad and essential” power to exercise oversight, “including the investigation of the operation of existing laws, the study of proposed legislation, and the examination of social, economic, and political systems so as to enable Congress to correct them.”
The committee is also tasked by the House of Representatives with “protecting America’s fundamental civil liberties and promoting fairness and consistency in our nation’s criminal justice system.” Jordan cited Rule 10 of the House Rules, which gives the Judiciary Committee oversight of criminal justice and civil liberties issues to help craft legislation.
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a press conference following the sentencing of former President Donald Trump in his civil fraud trial on February 16, 2024, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“Congress has a specific and clearly significant interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions of current and former presidents by state and local elected prosecutors, particularly in jurisdictions like New York County where prosecutors are popularly elected and there is no life tenure for judges,” Jordan wrote.
“In particular, allowing state and local prosecutors to bring politically motivated prosecutions of any President of the United States (current or former) for his or her personal conduct could have significant implications on how the President exercises power while in office,” the letter said. “Accordingly, the Committee reiterates its May 15 request and urges that the requested information be provided immediately and no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 2, 2024. The Committee is prepared to resort to compulsory procedures to obtain compliance with its request.”
Trump lawyer argues with host over hiring of former Biden Justice Department official in New York hush money case
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his legal team hold a press conference following President Trump’s sentencing in New York on May 30, 2024. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Colangelo, a former senior Justice Department official who was hired by Bragg in 2022 to lead the Trump investigation, have agreed to testify on July 12 before the House Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government.
This comes one day after President Trump was sentenced in the case.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at criminal court in Manhattan during jury deliberations in his hush money criminal trial, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Pool Photo by Michael M. Santiago/via The Associated Press)
Before Trump’s sentencing last month, Jordan wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting information about the Justice Department’s role in the local prosecution of the former president.
While the Justice Department said in its letter that it “generally does not undertake extensive efforts to rebut conspiracy theories,” it noted that its review of all communications from the start of the New York case in January 2021 through the verdict found no contact between federal prosecutors and parties to the hush money case.
“District Attorneys’ Offices are separate entities from the Department of Justice,” the Justice Department letter said.
Bragg is serving his first term as Manhattan’s district attorney and, before indicting Trump last year, also oversaw the prosecution of an unrelated tax evasion case against Trump’s companies.
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Mr Colangelo, who previously worked with Mr Trump in his office at the New York attorney general’s office, gave opening statements during the trial and questioned several witnesses, including former White House communications director Hope Hicks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
