Former RNC Chair Tells Alvin Bragg to ‘Stay His Behind Home’ From Congress

Michael Steele, MSNBC host and former chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), urged Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Saturday to “stay his behind home” and not testify in front of Congress as requested by a GOP House committee in relation to Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial.

In a case brought forward by Bragg, a New York jury last month found Trump, the presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee, guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels by Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, before the 2016 presidential election. The verdict makes Trump the first former president convicted of felony crimes.

Daniels alleged she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which he denies. Trump has maintained his innocence and says the case is politically motivated. His legal team says it will fight the case, which will include an appeal, if necessary.

The former president now faces possible jail time, which will be determined at his July 11 sentencing by presiding Judge Juan Merchan, just days before the Republican National Convention, where he is expected to accept the party’s nomination.

The day after the guilty verdict, Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, sent Bragg a letter requesting his testimony before Congress regarding Trump’s trial.

The letter states that on June 13, 2024, “this hearing will examine actions by state and local prosecutors to engage politically motivated prosecutions of federal officials, in particular the recent political prosecution of President Donald Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.”

Newsweek has reached out to Jordan’s communications team via email on Saturday.

Steele, a co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend who served as the RNC chair from 2009 to 2011, said on Saturday that Bragg shouldn’t testify before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government “because all this is [is] the biggest punking move of the year” and that he “needs to stay his behind home.”

“If he shows up, those individuals on that committee are there for one purpose and that is to hang him politically,” he said, adding that the “sound bites are just the beginning of it,” given that the appeals process is still ongoing.

Steele also questioned why Bragg would want to “subject that [the case] to a political process” when a jury already found Trump guilty andCongress “has no authority here to call him up and ask him about his prosecution in a state matter.”

Newsweek has reached out to Steele for further comment via email on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the district attorney’s general counsel Leslie Dubeck replied with a letter on Bragg’s behalf on Friday, accepting the offer to testify before the committee.

It reads: “The [Manhattan District Attorney’s] Office is committed to voluntary cooperation,” which “includes making the District Attorney available to provide testimony on behalf of the Office.”

However, the letter notes that the proposed date “presents various scheduling conflicts.” The letter also inquired about the “scope of the proposed testimony.”

Newsweek has also reached out to Dubeck via email on Saturday.