‘This Office is committed to voluntary cooperation,’ Mr. Bragg’s office wrote in response to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.
An official under Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg responded to a letter from a House Republican panel, signaling that the district attorney is open to testifying in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s felony conviction late last month.
Mr. Bragg’s general counsel, Leslie Dubeck, said in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.), that the district attorney currently has “scheduling conflicts” but might testify in front of the committee in the future under certain conditions.
“This Office is committed to voluntary cooperation,” Ms. Dubeck wrote in a letter dated June 7. “That cooperation includes making the District Attorney available to provide testimony on behalf of the Office at an agreed-upon date, and evaluating the propriety of allowing an Assistant District Attorney to testify publicly about an active prosecution to which he is assigned.
“However, the proposed date that the Subcommittee selected without consulting the Office presents various scheduling conflicts.”
The Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee’s previous letter also didn’t make clear the “scope of the proposed testimony” from Mr. Bragg, an elected Democrat, Ms. Dubeck said. Proceedings related to the Trump case are continuing until at least July 11, when the former president’s sentencing date is scheduled, the letter said.
‘“To participate in a public hearing at this time would be potentially detrimental to those efforts. The District Attorney’s Office therefore requests an opportunity to engage with Committee staff to identify a new hearing date, and to better understand the scope and purpose of the proposed hearing,” Ms. Dubeck wrote.
“As with the prior inquiries from this Committee, we look forward to discussing with committee staff how the Office may be able to accommodate the Committee’s invitation, while also protecting the integrity of an ongoing criminal prosecution and New York’s sovereign interests.”
Almost immediately after a Manhattan jury convicted former President Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Mr. Jordan’s office sent a letter to the Manhattan district attorney, requesting that he sit for an interview. The presumptive nominee for the Republican Party had pleaded not guilty to the charges, calling them a form of election interference in the lead-up to the November 2024 presidential election.
