Whether Trump will be indicted or not is still the hottest question in politics right now, but what’s not in question is how out of his depth Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg appears to be.
Bragg was elevated to his position in late 2021 despite a long history of partisan hackery, and since taking office, he’s shown himself to be completely incapable of executing the duties of his office properly. Crime has skyrocketed in his jurisdiction, and instead of enforcing laws against violent criminals, he’s spending his time pursuing Donald Trump for something that the last district attorney (also a far-left Democrat) shelved because it was so ridiculous.
Apparently, Bragg’s unprofessional, amateurish stylings extend to his employees. According to The New York Post, a contentious, profane series of calls happened between the district attorney’s office and a staffer for the House Judiciary Committee.
Rude reps for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a House Judiciary staffer to “stop calling us with this bulls–t” after he made multiple attempts to get in touch by phone.
The Judiciary Committee staffer who called Bragg’s office at noon on Wednesday was promptly hung up on after he identified himself to a woman who answered the phone, a person familiar with the call told The Post.
When the staffer called back a second time and identified himself, a second woman bluntly told him, “Your committee has no jurisdiction over us. You’re wrong. Stop calling us with this bulls—t,” the insider said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen any government entity respond to Congress in that manner. It’s quite embarrassing, but I don’t think anyone is surprised based on how partisan that office has become,” the tipster said.
I understand there are political differences here, but when the House Judiciary Committee, one of the most powerful committees in the US Congress, calls, you probably shouldn’t hang up in their face. And to launch into a profane response the second time around? Clearly, the Manhattan DA and his employees believe they are accountable to no one, and that’s a bad place to be for an office chasing after the most politicized indictment in US history.
As to the notion of jurisdiction, that’s true in a direct sense, but it’s not true in the sense that Congress has broad investigatory and subpoena power. If the House GOP wants to open an inquiry into Bragg’s behavior, they can do so, and they can legally compel documents and appearances as well. We learned during the January 6th committee just how far that power stretches, and now a new sheriff is in town.
But what strikes me the most about the incident is how much it says about the interworkings of Bragg’s office. This is obviously a man who has no idea what he’s doing and who has overextended himself in an attempt to become a far-left hero. None of this should produce confidence in his ability to execute a highly questionable, highly complicated prosecution of Donald Trump that is based on some hair-brained, never-before-tried legal theory.
At this point, Bragg almost has to follow through, though. If he backs down now, he’ll become a joke and a pariah. Perhaps he should have thought of that before embarking on this silly, partisan journey.
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