Jim Jordan Sends Serious Warning to Letitia James: Comply or Else

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio has threatened to subpoena New York Attorney General Letitia James, accusing her of not providing requested information about Matthew Colangelo, involved in the Manhattan criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

In a May 15 letter, Jordan requested correspondence and information regarding Colangelo, who previously worked in James’ office. Jordan asserted, “Mr. Colangelo’s recent employment history demonstrates his obsession with investigating a person rather than prosecuting a crime,” noting that he has contacted all of Colangelo’s recent employers.

Colangelo was involved in investigating the Trump Organization while working for James, which led to a civil fraud case against Trump. This investigation resulted in a Manhattan judge finding Trump guilty in February and ordering him to pay over $450 million to New York, a decision currently under appeal.

After his time with James, Colangelo worked at the Biden Department of Justice as the third highest-ranking official before leading the “hush money” case against Trump in December 2022. This case, previously declined by the DOJ and the Federal Election Commission, led to a New York jury finding Trump guilty of falsifying business records related to payments to Stormy Daniels and others. Trump plans to appeal this verdict as well.

In his letter, Jordan expressed concern that Colangelo’s actions “only add to the perception that the Biden Justice Department is politicized and weaponized.” He requested documents and communications involving Colangelo from various offices, including the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the New York attorney general’s office, the DOJ, and the Fulton County district attorney’s office, all referencing Trump and the Trump Organization.

Jordan also demanded, “All personnel files related to Mr. Colangelo’s hiring, employment, and termination at the New York Attorney General’s Office.” He set a deadline of May 29 for James to comply.

After receiving no response by the deadline, Jordan sent a follow-up letter on Tuesday, stressing, “Congress has a specific and manifestly important interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions of current and former Presidents by elected state and local prosecutors, particularly in jurisdictions — like New York County — where the prosecutor is popularly elected and trial-level judges lack life tenure.”

He added, “If state or local prosecutors are able to engage in politically motivated prosecutions of Presidents of the United States (current or former) for personal acts, this could profoundly impact how Presidents choose to exercise their powers while in office.” Jordan set a new deadline of July 2, threatening to issue a subpoena if James does not comply.

He concluded, “The Committee is prepared to resort to compulsory process to obtain compliance with our requests.”

The Hill reported that Bragg and Colangelo are scheduled to testify before the Judiciary Committee on July 12, the day after Trump’s sentencing hearing.