The Manhattan district attorney who presided over Donald Trump's conviction in his hush money trial agreed Saturday to testify before a Republican-led House committee but said he would not do so until after the former president is sentenced in early July, according to a report.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote to Alvin Bragg a day after Trump's conviction in May, blasting the trial as a "political prosecution," and calling on the DA to testify at a June 13 hearing.
Leslie Dubeck, the general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney, said in reply that the office was "committed to voluntary cooperation," the Associated Press reported.
Part of the cooperation involves making Bragg available to testify "at an agreed-upon date." But Dubeck noted that the day selected by Jordan "presents various scheduling conflicts."
Dubeck's letter, according to the AP, noted that Trump's prosecution is ongoing.
Prosecutors will be making recommendations to Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, about what kind of punishment Trump should receive.
"The trial court and reviewing appellate courts have issued numerous orders for the purpose of protecting the fair administration of justice in People v. Trump, and to participate in a public hearing at this time would be potentially detrimental to those efforts," the letter said.
Jordan is also seeking the testimony of Matthew Colangelo, a former Department of Justice official who joined the DA's office in 2022 and was one of the lead prosecutors in the Trump case.
The Ohio Republican said in his letter that the June hearing will be before the Select Subcommittee on the "Weaponization of the Federal Government" of the Committee on the Judiciary.
It "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," the letter said.
Trump was found guilty in Manhattan criminal court of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Daniels alleges that she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006.
