A key prosecutor on the classified documents case against President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional interview Wednesday, declining to answer questions because of concern about the Trump administration's willingness to "weaponize the machinery of government" against perceived adversaries, a spokesman said.
Jay Bratt had been subpoenaed to appear before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee for a closed-door interview but did not answer substantive questions because of his Fifth Amendment constitutional right to remain silent.
Bratt spent more than three decades at the Justice Department before retiring in January, just weeks before Trump took office. He was a key national security prosecutor on special counsel Jack Smith's team , which in 2023 charged Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and with obstructing the government's efforts to recover them.
"He did not choose to investigate Mar-a-Lago rather, the facts and evidence of a serious breach of law and national security led him there," Peter Carr, a spokesman for Justice Connection, a network of Justice Department alumni, said on behalf of Bratt.
"This administration and its proxies have made no effort to hide their willingness to weaponize the machinery of government against those they perceive as political enemies," Carr added. "That should alarm every American who believes in the rule of law. In light of these undeniable and deeply troubling circumstances, Mr. Bratt had no choice but to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights."