House GOP targets New York's DA over Trump grand jury

House Republicans on Monday rallied around former President Donald Trump ahead of his expected indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, using their investigative power to scrutinize criminal inquiries targeting him as at least one other GOP lawmaker endorsed his 2024 presidential campaign.

Three Republican committee chairmen demanded on Monday morning that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who is said to be close to indicting Trump, provide communications, documents and testimony about his investigation, an extraordinary move by Congress to involve itself in an active criminal inquiry.

“You are reportedly about to engage in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” wrote Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio of the Judiciary Committee, James R. Comer of Kentucky of the Oversight and Accountability Committee and Bryan Steil of Wisconsin of the Administration Committee. “If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode the confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.”

The letter was House Republicans' latest effort to use their investigatory powers to defend Trump. They have authorized a new subcommittee to scrutinize criminal investigations into Trump's conduct and quietly wound down a congressional inquiry into his finances and conflicts of interest as president. The Justice Department has so far resisted what federal prosecutors view as unnecessary intrusions into their work, citing long-standing department policy. Bragg was anticipated to be unlikely to allow Republicans access to materials related to an active case.

The effort came as Republicans, who have gathered for a retreat in Orlando to plot out their policy agenda, were facing fresh political calculations about how to position themselves as Trump confronts new challenges and a potentially divisive presidential primary looms.