DA’s office says Trump and Congress can’t interfere in ordinary course of New York court business
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 20: Tourists travel along 1st Street near the East Front of the U.S. Capitol building on March 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office told several congressional committees in a new letter that Trump and congressional Republicans may not “interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State.”
That clap back from Bragg’s general counsel reiterated that the office will not comply with any request from Republican-led committees in the House to get information about its investigation and criminal charging of Trump.
“Like any other defendant, Mr. Trump is entitled to challenge these charges in court and avail himself of all processes and protections that New York State’s robust criminal procedure affords,” wrote Leslie Dubeck, the general counsel.
But Dubeck wrote that the committees seeking information about the probe “lack jurisdiction to oversee a state criminal prosecution.”
In the letter, the general counsel called the requests “an unprecedented and illegitimate incursion on New York’s sovereign interests.”
“Even worse, based on your reportedly close collaboration with Mr. Trump in attacking this Office and the grand jury process, it appears you are acting more like criminal defense counsel trying to gather evidence for a client than a legislative body seeking to achieve a legitimate legislative objective,” Dubeck wrote.
— Dan Mangan
Biden refuses to comment on Trump indictment — again and again
Members of the media ask questions to U.S. President Joe Biden as he walks to the Marine One helicopter to depart for travel to Mississippi to view tornado damage, from the White House in Washington, U.S., March 31, 2023.Â
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden refused Friday — again and again — to comment on the indictment of Trump, his predecessor in the White House, and potentially his opponent in next year’s presidential election.
Reporters asked Biden repeatedly about the unprecedented lodging of criminal charges against Trump, but each time he gave an identical response.
“I have no comment on Trump,” Biden said.
The White House on Thursday made clear it would not weigh in on the indictment after news of it broke in the late afternoon.
Trump faces three other major criminal probes. Two of them are being conducted by the Department of Justice, which is investigating Trump for his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, in addition to his retention of government documents at his Florida residence as federal officials sought their return.
A state prosecutor in Atlanta is investigating Trump and multiple allies of his for potentially criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
— Dan Mangan
Trump lawyer says Manhattan DA sought Friday surrender but Secret Service rejected idea
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg walks outside the District Attorney’s offices as Bragg’s office investigates $130,000 paid in the final weeks of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who said she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 when he was married to his current wife Melania, in New York City, U.S. March 27, 2023. Â
Amanda Perobelli | Reuters
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wanted Trump to surrender to his office a day after Thursday’s indictment, the former president’s lawyer told NBC News.
The attorney, Joseph Tacopina, says he nixed that idea, telling Bragg that the U.S. Secret Service, which protects Trump, needed more time to prepare for him to travel to New York and be booked in the criminal case.
The Secret Service has denied that claim by Tacopina, NBC reported.
Sources said Trump’s protective detail could be set to travel with him to New York at a moment’s notice, and that they will do so for Tuesday’s scheduled appearance in Manhattan court.
— Dan Mangan