Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has agreed to testify before Congress on July 12, following former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money trial. Bragg will appear before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government alongside Matthew Colangelo, a former high-ranking Justice Department official who helped lead the Trump investigation. The hearing is expected to be hostile, as Republican chairman Rep. Jim Jordan has accused both men of conducting a political prosecution in the case against Trump. This effort by Trump’s allies in Congress aims to discredit the recent 34-count conviction by targeting local and federal prosecutors involved in charging him.
The Manhattan DA’s office spokesperson expressed concern over the spread of dangerous misinformation and conspiracy theories following Trump’s felony conviction. Despite respecting the government institutions, Bragg plans to appear voluntarily before the subcommittee after the sentencing. Trump, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, was convicted of falsifying records to conceal hush money paid to a porn actor during the 2016 campaign and is set to be sentenced on July 11. Prosecutors will be making recommendations to the judge regarding Trump’s punishment before the sentencing date.
Bragg, a Democrat, previously sued Jordan in an attempt to stop a House Judiciary Committee inquiry into Trump’s indictment. He later allowed the committee to question ex-prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who previously oversaw the investigation but left due to disagreements with Bragg. Jordan has been critical of Bragg’s policies, calling them pro-crime and anti-victim. He has proposed withholding federal funding from entities seeking to prosecute a former president and has accused the federal government of being weaponized. Before the verdict on Trump’s case, Jordan wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking information on the Justice Department’s role in the prosecution, to which the Department responded with a denial of any contact between federal prosecutors and those involved in the hush money case.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte clarified in a letter that the District Attorney’s office is a separate entity from the Department and the Department does not supervise its work or charging decisions. Bragg, a former civil rights lawyer and law professor, is serving his first term as Manhattan’s district attorney and inherited the Trump investigation when he took office in 2021. He oversaw the prosecution of Trump’s company in a tax fraud case before indicting Trump last year. Bragg and Colangelo have worked together on Trump-related matters at the New York attorney general’s office, with Colangelo handling the opening statement and questioning witnesses during the trial. Despite Republican efforts to undermine the prosecution, Bragg and Colangelo are prepared to address Congress about their work in the Trump case.
