The House Judiciary Committee is demanding testimony from Matthew Colangelo, a former Department of Justice official with a history of investigating Donald Trump, who was hired by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the lead-up to the hush money indictment of the former president.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, says details behind Mr. Bragg’s decision to hire Mr. Colangelo would “shed substantial light on the underlying motives for that office’s investigation into and indictment of President Trump.”
Mr. Colangelo left the Justice Department when he was tapped by Mr. Bragg in December to focus on “the office’s most sensitive and high-profile white-collar investigations.”
Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Colangelo served as a lawyer on the New York attorney general’s civil inquiry into the Trump Foundation.
“Given your history of working for law-enforcement entities that are pursuing President Trump and the public reporting surrounding your decision to work for the New York County District Attorney’s Office, we request your cooperation with our oversight in your personal capacity,” Mr. Jordan wrote in a letter to Mr. Colangelo on Friday.
Mr. Jordan wants Mr. Colangelo to turn over and preserve documents related to his hiring by Mr. Bragg and to schedule a transcribed interview before the committee no later than April 21.
Friday’s letter is the latest in a tense back-and-forth with Mr. Bragg’s office ignited by the former president’s grand jury indictment on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
On Thursday, Mr. Jordan subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in Mr. Bragg’s office who worked on the hush money investigation.
Mr. Pomerantz wrote a book about the Trump inquiry in which he said he quit the probe because Mr. Bragg was reluctant to bring charges.
Mr. Pomerantz and another prosecutor, Carey Dunne, oversaw the hush money investigation and pushed for criminal charges against Mr. Trump. Last month, Mr. Pomerantz released a book arguing that criminal charges were warranted and former District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. had authorized him to pursue Mr. Trump’s indictment.
Mr. Jordan last month requested Mr. Pomerantz testify before the panel. In response, Mr. Pomerantz’s attorney said his client would not cooperate in the investigation at the direction of Mr. Bragg’s office.
Mr. Bragg issued a fiery statement accusing House Republicans of “an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation [that was] interfering in an ongoing criminal matter in state court.”
“Repeated efforts to weaken state and local law enforcement actions are an abuse of power and will not deter us from our duty to uphold the law,” he said.
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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