House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer pushed back Sunday against criticism from Senate Republicans that his efforts to glean more information from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg about his probe into possible criminal charges against former President Donald Trump are inappropriate.
The Kentucky Republican said the attempt by House Republicans to coerce the elected local official to read Congress into his investigation of potential financial criminal charges against the former president involving a hush-money payment to an adult film star before the 2016 election is about preventing a political prosecution of a presidential candidate.
“It’s not a sincere argument to say it’s a local investigation when you’re investigating a presidential candidate and the former president of the United States,” Mr. Comer said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We believe that this should be done on the federal level.”
Senate Republicans have expressed concerns that their House GOP colleagues are trying to intervene and suggested it is not Congress’ role.
“I personally prefer to see them work on the agenda they ran on and that got them the majority,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas recently told Axios.
Sen. Thom Tillis said the House should “fall short of getting involved in the legal process,” but the North Carolina Republican added that there “is a legitimate question to ask about why are we here.”
Mr. Comer said Mr. Bragg should explain his case to House Republicans in private because of the politics involved and that the misdemeanor crime he’s investigating is politically motivated.
“I don’t believe that Bragg would be doing this if Donald Trump were not running for president,” Mr. Comer said.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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