Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the man who opened a probe into and subsequently indicted former President Donald Trump, reportedly suggested that any efforts for him to be investigated over his conduct in New York City amount to nothing more than a “political stunt.”
“If Bragg can spend resources indicting President Trump, he should be able to address the soaring crime in NYC,” said Judiciary Committee member Andy Biggs (R-AZ).
Recent reports have revealed that the Judiciary Committee has set a hearing for next Monday. While the committee’s website reportedly did not specify which witnesses may be summoned for testimony, it seems obvious who may be called up given that it has an explicit focus on “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan.”
According to a statement by a spokeswoman for Bragg, the Manhattan DA reportedly countered, “Don’t be fooled… The House G.O.P. is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt.”
Biggs does not appear to agree with Bragg’s assertion that New York City is particularly safe. The Arizona congressman put the district attorney on blast during an appearance with Newsmax’s “National Report” on Tuesday, telling the hosts about different soft-on-crime initiatives he has pushed since first assuming office, including a reduction of about half of all felony cases to misdemeanors.
DA Bragg is scared of our field hearing next week.
We're going to expose his pro-crime policies and bring in New York residents to hear how unsafe they feel in his city.
More than 70% of the people he is releasing on bail are recommitting crimes! pic.twitter.com/tWSswlhtPr
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) April 11, 2023
Data from the city suggests that in recent years there has been a significant surge in crime, according to The New York Times. A report by the outlet noted that spikes in robbery, burglary, and other crimes fueled a 22% increase in overall major crime in the big apple compared to the prior year. While murders and shootings are overall down, muggings, robberies, and other violent crimes are occurring at a higher rate.
Similar accusations of the other side engaging in ‘political stunts’ were hurled towards Bragg by the GOP; Rep. James Comer (R-KY) used precisely the same words to describe the district attorney’s convening of a grand jury in order to indict Trump on numerous felony counts over an alleged hush-money payment to pornographic star Stormy Daniels.
“When you look at what we believe the role of the Manhattan DA should be, [it] is to fight crime. I mean, that’s one of the biggest issues in New York. We saw that in the midterm elections last November,” Comer said last month.
“And we believe that our tax dollars — and that’s where I come in with the House Oversight — we believe tax dollars would be better spent prosecuting local criminals. That’s what a DA is supposed to do.”
