House GOP, defending Trump, targets Bragg ahead of expected indictment

Rethinking America
By Editor_1
Former President Donald Trump, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, speaks at a campaign rally in Davenport, Iowa, on March 13, 2023. House Republicans have unanimously defended Trump and denounced Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, who is said to be close to indicting him- Desiree Rios/The New York Times
By Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater

ORLANDO — House Republicans rallied around former President Donald Trump on Monday (20) ahead of his expected indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, using their investigative power to scrutinize active criminal inquiries targeting him as at least one other GOP lawmaker endorsed his 2024 presidential campaign.

Three Republican committee chairmen demanded on Monday morning that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who is said to be close to indicting Trump, provide communications, documents and testimony about his investigation, an extraordinary move by Congress to involve itself in an active criminal inquiry.

“You are reportedly about to engage in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” wrote Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio of the Judiciary Committee, James R. Comer of Kentucky of the Oversight and Accountability Committee and Bryan Steil of Wisconsin of the Administration Committee. “If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode the confidence in the even-handed application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.”

They demanded “all documents and communications referring or relating to the New York County District Attorney Office’s receipt and use of federal funds.”

That office receives very little funding from the federal government, according to its most recent budget, but the letter also served as a warning to the FBI and the Justice Department, which is also considering prosecutions of Trump.

The letter was House Republicans’ latest effort to use their investigatory powers to defend Trump. They have authorized a new subcommittee to scrutinize criminal investigations into Trump’s conduct and quietly wound down a congressional inquiry into his finances and conflicts of interest as president. The Justice Department has so far resisted what federal prosecutors view as unnecessary intrusions into their work, citing long-standing department policy. Bragg was anticipated to be unlikely to allow Republicans access to materials related to an active case.

“We will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process,” Danielle Filson, a spokesperson for Bragg’s office, said Monday, adding: “In every prosecution, we follow the law without fear or favour to uncover the truth. Our skilled, honest and dedicated lawyers remain hard at work.”

Still, Trump’s lawyers have quietly urged the Republican-led House to interfere. Last month, Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina wrote to Jordan calling on Congress to investigate the “egregious abuse of power” by what he called a “rogue local district attorney”, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The New York Times.

But Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, said it was Republicans who were abusing their power. “These committee chairs have acted totally outside their proper powers to try to influence a pending criminal investigation at the state level,” he said in a statement.

The news of the Republicans’ letter came as House GOP lawmakers, who have gathered for a retreat in Orlando to plot out their policy agenda, were facing fresh political calculations about how to position themselves as Trump confronts new challenges and a potentially divisive presidential primary looms.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who has been loyal to both Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, announced her official endorsement of Trump’s presidential campaign on Monday, indicating that the expected indictment had pushed her to unequivocally choose sides.

“I support President Trump,” Luna said in a statement to The New York Times. In explaining her support, she said that Bragg was “trying to cook up charges outside of the statute of limitation against Trump” and that “this is unheard-of, and Americans should see it for what it is: an abuse of power and fascist overreach of the justice system.”

Luna indicated to Politico last week that she would lean toward Trump in a presidential matchup against DeSantis. But her full-throated endorsement underscored the forces pulling at Republicans as Trump riles up his base to support him in what he is framing as a politically motivated indictment.

Trump, until now, has been more ignored than embraced by House Republicans who have preferred not to choose sides in the still-developing 2024 presidential primary.

At the retreat in Orlando on Monday, Republicans across the board denounced Bragg and defended Trump.

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida said on Monday that Bragg was a “rogue, left-wing, radical prosecutor who now has decided for political reasons to go after a former president.” He said he condoned peaceful protests in response and added of the expected indictment: “We’re used to seeing that in third-world countries. That’s something that doesn’t happen in this country.”

Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California also said on Sunday that Bragg was politically motivated but argued against protests. “It’s interesting to me that he spent his whole time as a DA lowering felonies not to prosecute,” McCarthy said of Bragg. “Republicans and Democrats alike hate this kind of justice.” (Filson said homicides and shootings had declined under Bragg.)

In an interview, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, one of Trump’s most fervent defenders and the only party leader to endorse him, said the expected indictment “only strengthens President Trump moving forward.” And she did not discourage people from protesting, as he has urged them to do. “I do believe people have a constitutional right of freedom of speech to speak up when they disagree,” she said.

Most House Republicans have remained neutral in the 2024 presidential race. Last week, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas pre-emptively endorsed DeSantis, even though he has yet to officially start a presidential campaign. And Rep. Ralph Norman, R-SC, endorsed Nikki Haley, the state’s former governor.

A handful of Trump loyalists, including Stefanik and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have endorsed the former president. But most have seen little benefit to expressing a preference in the race at this early stage.

That decision has been that much harder for members of the Florida delegation — until the expected indictment prompted at least one of them to intensify their defence of Trump.

-New York Times

 

 

 

Editor_1
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