Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg sneered at House Republicans demanding transparency about an unprecedented indictment of former president and current White House candidate Donald Trump.

Bragg dismissed requests for information as "unlawful" in a sharply worded letter to House Judiciary, Oversight and Administration Committee Chairs Jim Jordan (R-OH), James Comer (R-KY) and Bryan Steil (R-WI).

The three Republicans had given Bragg a Thursday deadline to respond to their demands to testify and provide records about his "unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority."

The Republicans had sent Bragg a letter Monday warning him to back off as rumors circulated of Trump's imminent arrest on charges relating to years-old "hush money" payments to Stormy Daniels.

Bragg responds

The Republicans accused Bragg of weighing a creative legal theory "untested anywhere in the country and one that federal authorities declined to pursue" in an effort to railroad Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 race.

"In light of the serious consequences of your actions, we expect that you will testify about what plainly appears to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision," they wrote.

Bragg turned the accusation on its head, accusing House Republicans of "unprecedented" overreach into a local prosecutor's decision.

He asserted the "independence of state law enforcement functions from federal interference" and signaled his cooperation would be limited.

“The Letter only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry,” the letter read.

Political persecution

In a social media post, Trump said that Bragg, who has foregone enforcing the law against violent criminals to pursue Trump, is "doing the work of Anarchists and the Devil."

Bragg has made a habit of downgrading felonies to misdemeanors, but in Trump’s case, he’s reportedly doing the opposite using a far-fetched legal theory, Steil noted in an interview with Breitbart. 

“You can look at how many felonies he’s brought down to misdemeanors and how crime has spiked in liberal cities across the country. In this case, it appears he is taking a misdemeanor and running a unique argument to try to create a felony charge," he said. 

It's not clear what House Republicans will do now that Bragg has told them to go shove it. Republicans haven't indicated whether they will pursue a subpoena.