washington (CNN) The chairs of three House committees sent a letter Saturday to the Manhattan district attorney who is leading the investigation into donald trumpredoubling their efforts to intervene in the secret money investigation before possible criminal charges against the former president.
He presidents letter from the House Committees on Administration, Oversight and the Judiciary to the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg rejected their case for not appearing for a transcribed interview with their panels, arguing that they now feel compelled to consider whether Congress should take legislative action on three separate issues “to protect past and/or current presidents from politically motivated prosecutions.” by state and local governments. officials”.
The letter, written by Republicans Jim Jordan, James Comer and Bryan Steil, comes after initially called Bragg earlier this week to testify before its committees and criticized its investigation of Trump as an “unprecedented abuse of tax authority.”
Bragg is investigating Trump’s alleged role in a scheme to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of 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 had initially answered on thursdaytelling House committee leaders they lacked a “legitimate basis for congressional investigation” and noting that their requests for information “only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and His lawyers reportedly urged him to intervene.”
The presidents claimed in Saturday’s letter that Bragg had not disputed “the core allegations at issue,” that his office is under “political pressure from left-wing activists and former prosecutors” and “plans to use an alleged federal campaign finance violation, previously rejected by federal prosecutors, as a vehicle to extend the statute of limitations on a misdemeanor and indict for the first time in history a former president of the United States.”
They argued that the potential criminal indictment of a former president and 2024 presidential candidate “implicates substantial federal interests, particularly in a jurisdiction where trial judges are also popularly elected.”
Bragg responded to the presidents letter on Twitter Saturday night, writing: “We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on facts, law and evidence. It is inappropriate for Congress to interfere with pending local investigations. This unprecedented investigation by federal officials “Elected officials on an ongoing matter only serve to impede, disrupt, 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.”
Going further than before, Jordan, Comer and Steil wrote in the letter that they can choose to consider three areas of legislation, including expanding “the priority provision in the Federal Election Campaign Act,” adding that such a move could “have the effect of better delimiting the prosecutorial authorities of federal and local officials in this area and blocking the selective or politicized application by state and local prosecutors of federal election-related campaign finance restrictions.”
The second piece of legislation they may consider concerns linking federal funds to better metrics for public safety funding, a move they say would be prompted by allegations that the Manhattan district attorney is using security funds. public for its investigation into Trump.
They may also consider a measure that would review the special counsel’s authority and better delineate their relationships with other tax entities, they said, arguing that the circumstances of the Trump investigation “derive, 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.
