Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is slated to testify before Congress on July 12, alongside prosecutor Michael Colangelo, conveniently just a day after President Trump's sentencing in his ‘hush money’ trial.
Bragg and Colangelo, a former top Justice Department official hired by Bragg in 2022 to lead the Trump investigation, are set to appear before the House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, is expected to conduct a contentious hearing, as Jordan has accused Bragg and Colangelo of engaging in a political prosecution against Trump.
Trump was convicted last month of falsifying records to conceal hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, with prosecutors set to recommend an appropriate punishment to the judge beforehand.
Last year, Bragg sued Rep. Jordan in an effort to block a House Judiciary Committee inquiry into Trump’s indictment. Eventually, Bragg agreed to allow the committee to question former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who had led the investigation before resigning due to disagreements with Bragg over the case's direction.
Following Trump’s arraignment in April 2023, Jordan held a field hearing near Bragg’s offices, criticizing the district attorney’s “pro-crime, anti-victim” policies. Democrats labeled the hearing a partisan effort to fuel conservative outrage against Bragg.
Bragg, serving his first term as Manhattan’s district attorney, is a former civil rights lawyer and law professor. He inherited the Trump investigation upon taking office in 2021, after campaigning on a promise to “Get Trump.”
Bragg previously oversaw the prosecution of Trump’s company in a separate tax fraud case before indicting Trump last year. He and Colangelo had collaborated on Trump-related matters at the New York attorney general’s office, with Colangelo delivering the opening statement and questioning key witnesses during the trial, including former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks.
