Alvin Bragg agrees to appear before House Judiciary following Trump sentencing

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12, the day after former President Trump’s sentencing following his conviction in New York.

One of the top prosecutors in the case, Matthew Colangelo, will also appear before the panel.

The hearing will be a major moment for the House GOP’s Oversight of those responsible for bringing charges against Trump.

Bragg’s appearance following the hush money trial makes him the first such prosecutor to appear before the panel after others who have filed charges against Trump have largely rebuffed demands from Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), saying the invitations amount to inappropriate efforts to interfere in their ongoing investigations.

Bragg agreed to the invitation only after the conclusion of Trump’s trial, delaying his appearance by about a month as he said it would be improper to speak publicly on the case outside of a courtroom before a judge has fully weighed punishment for the former president.

“The Manhattan D.A.’s Office is proud to play a crucial role in upholding and enforcing the rule of law for the people of New York. It undermines the rule of law to spread dangerous misinformation, baseless claims, and conspiracy theories following the jury’s return of a full-count felony conviction in People v. Trump,” Bragg’s office said in a statement. 

“Nonetheless, we respect our government institutions and plan to appear voluntarily before the subcommittee after sentencing.”

Colangelo’s appearance is also notable, as the House Judiciary Committee has demanded information about him from multiple entities, including the Justice Department. Colangelo, who worked as a prosecutor in New York, including on cases involving the Trump family, worked at the Justice Department before returning to New York to work for Bragg’s team. Colangelo gave the opening arguments during Trump’s trial.

Jordan plans to still hold a hearing on the case Thursday — the original date he asked for Bragg to appear — and it will include testimony from those not involved in the trial, such as Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R).

The agreement for Bragg and Colangelo’s July testimony comes hours after the Justice Department told the committee it had done a “comprehensive” search of their records, failing to find any communications between the department and Bragg’s office.

The letter obtained by The Hill seeks to quash what Attorney General Merrick Garland has called a conspiracy theory floated by Republican lawmakers that federal prosecutors were in any way involved with Bragg’s decision to bring charges against Trump.

“We found none,” Carlos Uriarte, the head of legislative affairs for the Justice Department, wrote of what resulted from their search.

“This is unsurprising. The District Attorney’s office is a separate entity from the Department. The Department does not supervise the work of the District Attorney’s office, does not approve its charging decisions, and does not try its cases. The Department has no control over the District Attorney, just as the District Attorney has no control over the Department. The Committee knows this.”

“Our extraordinary efforts to respond to your speculation should put it to rest,” he added later.

While Trump allies have complained both about the prosecutor and judge involved in his trial, it was a jury agreed to by both prosecutors and Trump’s legal team that found him guilty on every single one of the 34 counts brought by Bragg.

Jurors agreed Trump falsified business records by concealing hush money payments made to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election.

Updated at 1:17 p.m.