GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz calls for subpoenaing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his deputy

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz moved Thursday to subpoena Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to appear before the House, saying lawmakers can’t trust the prosecutors to show up voluntarily.

Mr. Gaetz faulted his own party’s leadership for failing to subpoena President Biden’s son, Hunter, for live testimony, and fears Mr. Bragg and his assistant district attorney, Matthew Colangelo, won’t appear as promised on July 12 to discuss their prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

“I worry we’re going about the same kind of process here. We may end up there in July, right after sentencing, with an empty Alvin Bragg nameplate and an empty Matthew Colangelo nameplate,” Mr. Gaetz, of Florida, said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Mr. Bragg’s decision to go after Mr. Trump. “And then we’ll start the process again with letters, and subpoenas and accommodation, and I’ve just grown tired of it.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan pushed back on Mr. Gaetz, saying the New York officials guaranteed they’ll appear, and the panel could subpoena them if they don’t show up. He called a recess while he worked with staff to deal with Mr. Gaetz’s motion.

Democrats said they didn’t understand the motion.

“It’s a little absurd because Mr. Bragg and Mr. Colangelo have already agreed to appear before the committee on July 12; we have a letter to that effect,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, said. “There no point in requiring them to do what they said they’re already going to do.”

Mr. Jordan called a recess while he worked with staff to deal with the request. 

After the break, Mr. Gaetz agreed to withdraw his motion based on representations from the chairman and Democrats.

Mr. Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30. He faces sentencing on July 11.

During the six-week trial, prosecutors said Mr. Trump used his lawyer Michael Cohen to pay hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels near the 2016 election and then criminally concealed the payments through a series of mis-logged checks to Mr. Cohen. Defense attorneys said Mr. Trump did nothing wrong and thought he was paying legal fees to Mr. Cohen.

Republicans say the prosecution was a political hit job designed to thwart Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president.

Mr. Jordan said Mr. Bragg ran on prosecuting Mr. Trump but wavered on whether to bring the case once he got in office.

Then, the chairman said, Mr. Bragg fell for a “pressure campaign” from the left after key prosecutors resigned from the team over the lack of prosecution and as Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign gained momentum.

Mr. Cohen served as the central witness for the prosecution despite his history of lying to Congress and investigators.

“It’s not often you can lie to all three branches of government and yet become the star witness in a prosecution of a former president,” Mr. Jordan said.

The top Manhattan prosecutor has defended his work.

“I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts of the law without fear or favor, and that’s exactly what we did here,” Mr. Bragg said at a press conference after the May 30 verdict.

Democrats defended Mr. Bragg from the dais Thursday.

“House Republicans are willing to do just about anything to protect Donald Trump from the consequences of his actions,” Mr. Nadler said.

Republicans and Mr. Trump are targeting Mr. Colangelo, a key prosecutor at the trial, because he worked at the Department of Justice before heading to Manhattan.

The DOJ rejected claims that Mr. Biden sent Mr. Colangelo to Mr. Bragg’s team.

In a recent letter, the department said Mr. Colangelo worked on civil litigation before leaving in 2022. The DOJ said it was not informed of Mr. Colangelo’s role in the Trump case before it appeared in the news.

Though Mr. Bragg was not present Thursday, the committee heard from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who said he “watched in horror” as Mr. Trump was prosecuted. He said the trial will dissuade candidates from running for office.

Elizabeth Price Foley, a lawyer who led major challenges to Obamacare, used Russian nesting dolls to explain the unusual complexity of Mr. Bragg’s legal theory against Mr. Trump and the instructions to the jury, which had to find that the former president committed a secondary crime when he falsified business records. On top of that, the jurors had to figure out which “unlawful means” Mr. Trump used to violate the secondary crime but didn’t have to agree on which means were used.

Norm Eisen, a CNN legal analyst and former ambassador to the Czech Republic, testified that “jurors got it right.”

“Witness after witness formerly inside Mr. Trump’s orbit supported both parts of the jury’s conclusion,” said Mr. Eisen, who attended each day of the trial.

The hearing started over an hour late because the House GOP was meeting behind closed doors with Mr. Trump.

“I apologize,” Mr. Jordan said. “Looks like we’re 62 minutes late in starting, but we had an important guest [who] spoke to our Republican conference today.”