XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics, soc.culture.african.american   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: felony@prison.time   
      
   On 04 Dec 2021, Bob Duncan  posted some   
   news:sog6jc$tgc$65@news.dns-netz.com:   
      
   > Anonymous wrote   
   >   
   >> Shoulda thought of that Alvin!   
      
   Washington — The general counsel for the Manhattan District Attorney's   
   Office told three House GOP committee chairmen that their recent demand   
   for testimony and documents related to the DA's investigation into former   
   President Donald Trump was "unprecedent[ed]" and would interfere in an   
   ongoing criminal inquiry.   
      
   On Monday, Reps. Jim Jordan, James Comer and Bryan Steil wrote to District   
   Attorney Alvin Bragg, accusing him of preparing to "engage in an   
   unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority" and demanding his   
   testimony if a New York grand jury issues an indictment charging Trump.   
      
   Bragg and the grand jury he convened have been investigating the   
   circumstances surrounding a $130,000 payment made on Trump's behalf to   
   adult film star Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 election,   
   including potential falsification of business records. Trump has denied   
   any wrongdoing and insisted Thursday that he is "100% innocent."   
      
   In their letter, the trio of GOP chairmen also sought details about any   
   communications between the DA's office and the Justice Department, as well   
   as information about the use of federal funds in Bragg's office. Jordan is   
   the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Comer leads the House   
   Oversight Committee and Steil chairs the Committee on House   
   Administration.   
      
   Leslie Dubeck, the general counsel in Bragg's office, responded to the   
   lawmakers on Thursday. She said that complying with their demands would   
   reveal "non-public information about a pending criminal investigation,   
   which is confidential under state law."   
      
   The chairmen's letter "only came after Donald Trump created a false   
   expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers   
   reportedly urged you to intervene," Dubeck wrote, referring to Trump's   
   claim over the weekend that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday.   
   "Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry."   
      
   Dubeck said the DA's office cannot reveal information about grand jury   
   proceedings absent a ruling from a judge. She called the chairmen's   
   demands an "unlawful incursion into New York's sovereignty," citing   
   historical precedent and Supreme Court opinions about the division of   
   state and federal authority.   
      
   "It is clear that Congress cannot have any legitimate legislative task   
   relating to the oversight of local prosecutors enforcing state law," she   
   wrote. "To preserve the Constitution's federalist principles, the District   
   Attorney is duty bound by his constitutional oath to New York's sovereign   
   interest in the exercise of police powers reserved to the States under the   
   Tenth Amendment."   
      
   Dubeck said Congress is "not the appropriate branch to review pending   
   criminal matters."   
      
   "If a grand jury brings charges against Donald Trump, the DA's Office will   
   have an obligation, as in every case, to provide a significant amount of   
   discovery from its files to the defendant so that he may prepare a   
   defense," she continued. "The Letter's allegation that the DA's Office is   
   pursuing a prosecution for political purposes is unfounded, and   
   regardless, the proper forum for such a challenge is the Courts of New   
   York, which are equipped to consider and review such objections."   
      
   Regarding the chairmen's request for information about the DA's office use   
   of federal money, Dubeck said the office is "preparing and will submit a   
   letter describing its use of federal funds." She asked to meet with the   
   lawmakers "to understand whether the Committee has any legitimate   
   legislative purpose in the requested materials that could be accommodated   
   without impeding [New York's] sovereign interests."   
      
   The grand jury investigating Trump did not meet Wednesday as normally   
   scheduled and is expected to hear evidence in a separate case on Thursday,   
   sources told CBS News, likely meaning any potential vote on an indictment   
   would be pushed until at least next week.   
      
      
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)