Republicans are striking back at New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg after he indicted former President Donald Trump. Bragg raised eyebrows with this move because anyone – including Stevie Wonder – could see that the attempt to prosecute Trump is a politically-motivated sham intended to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.
On Monday, the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee held a hearing in New York City to examine the issue of crime in the region. While it may seem odd that Congress would take an interest in the city’s crime rate, perhaps it makes sense given that district attorneys like Bragg don’t seem too concerned with it.
Both parties used the hearing for their own political agendas. For Republicans, the objective was to highlight Bragg’s apparent hypocrisy in going easy on violent criminals while being gung-ho about prosecuting Trump. Democrats took this opportunity to highlight the problem of gun violence in the wake of the Nashville school shooting and use it to push for gun control legislation.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) took aim at Bragg and his soft approach to crime.
“In this country, justice is supposed to be blind, regardless of race, religion, or creed. However, here in Manhattan, scales of justice are weighed down by politics,” he said during his opening remarks. “For the district attorney, justice isn’t blind. It’s about looking for opportunities to advance a political agenda, a radical political agenda.”
He continued, “Rather than enforcing the law, the DA is using his office to do the bidding of left-wing campaign funders. He’s taken his soft-on-crime approach to the real criminals.”
During the hearing, Bragg was criticized by victims of crime and their families for his decision not to prosecute serious offenses. Republicans slammed the district attorney for going after Trump for alleged business fraud at a time when violent crime rates are soaring in the borough. The hearing was aimed at examining the rising crime rate in New York City, where over 170,000 felony crimes were reported last year, the highest since 2006 according to the Washington Times.
Madeline Brame, chairwoman of the Victims Rights Reform Council, who also happens to be the mother of a homicide victim, told how her son was assaulted by four perpetrators. Only two were convicted of his murder.
“Me, my family and my grandchildren, we were treated like garbage [by Mr. Bragg] … and I’m not the only one,” she told the committee. “There are hundreds and thousands of us. We don’t give a damn about your politics. We don’t care. It could be the man on the moon who’s running for president.”
Democratic lawmakers on the committee accused Republicans of exploiting victims of crimes in New York City. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told one of the witnesses that she believes they were “being used for a political purpose despite your sincerity.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) clapped back, arguing that the committee is “here not to use anyone but to uplift the voices of brave people who are here to tell their story.”
He asked Brame if she felt “used” during the hearing. She responded, explaining that she was a “willing participant.”
Gaetz asked the same question to Jennifer Harrison, founder of Victims Rights NY. “Do you feel more used by this committee hearing or do you feel more used by a criminal justice system that allowed people to kill people that you love and care about with no consequence?” he asked.
“The latter,” Harrison said. “And I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to testify here on behalf of victims because the Democrat Party, including Mr. Nadler and everybody here today has ignored us in this city.”
Jose Alba, a former bodega worker in Harlem, also gave testimony. Bragg’s office unjustly charged him with second-degree murder after he fatally stabbed a man who violently assaulted him last year. It was a clear act of self-defense. The district attorney released Alba after a public backlash ensued.
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), savaged Republicans for holding the hearing and used the moment to advocate for stricter gun control measures on lawful gun owners. He said:
Gun violence is now the leading cause of death of children in America and kills 40,000 Americans a year. And my colleagues vote repeatedly against even the most common sense gun violence prevention measures. They vote against getting assault weapons off the streets despite the previous assault weapons ban that drastically reduced gun violence. They vote against alerting people to active shooters. They vote against safe storage and red flag laws. They vote against community based crime prevention programs. They vote against background checks, and the list goes on and on.
Rep. David Cicilline pointed out the GOP’s hypocrisy in holding a House Judiciary Committee hearing on NYC crime while party members continuously work against gun reform laws even though gun violence is the leading cause of death of U.S. children pic.twitter.com/xV2sDwKS31
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 17, 2023
This is pretty much how the hearing went. Republicans highlighted New York City’s crime problem and Bragg’s decision to prioritize a political indictment. Democrats pretended the Big Apple is the safest place to be while insisting that making it more difficult for law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms would prevent gun violence.
But did either side win here?
Probably not.
Yes, this was another opportunity for Republicans to score political points against the left by focusing attention on New York City’s crime problems. But this wasn’t anything that outlets like RedState and others weren’t already doing. It’s already clear that Bragg and his fellow Democrats are motivated by nothing more than political expediency. However, if the committee manages to speak with former Manhattan District Attorney Mark Pomerantz, who originally handled the Trump/Stormy Daniels matter, it might shed some additional light on the case.
Democrats probably didn’t make any big wins here either. Their efforts to use tragedy to push laws infringing on Americans’ Second Amendment rights is tired rhetoric that people already expect from the left, so it is unlikely that anything they said during the hearing moves the needle for them.
