GOP congressman moves to defund Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office
Fox News
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., on Thursday introduced legislation that would strip federal funds from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, accusing the district attorney of “lawlessness” and leading a “political prosecution of former U.S. President Donald Trump.”
A pair of bills filed by Biggs would target the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in retaliation for criminally prosecuting Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
The Accountability for Lawless Violence In Our Neighborhoods Act, or “ALVIN Act,” would prohibit Bragg’s office from receiving federal funding and require that the district attorney repay any funds received after Jan. 1, 2022. The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Mary Miller, R-Ill., Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Bob Good, R-Va.
Biggs’ second bill, the No Federal Funds for Political Prosecutions Act, would block any state or local law enforcement agency from using resources seized through asset forfeiture to prosecute a president, vice president or a candidate for president in a criminal case.
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“District Attorney Alvin Bragg ran on a campaign pledge to indict President Trump. Bragg took the unprecedented action of converting alleged minor business misdemeanors to 34 individual felonies in an attempt to put President Trump behind bars and humiliate him and his supporters,” Biggs said in a statement.
“This weaponized prosecutor’s office has spent thousands of federal taxpayer dollars to subsidize this political indictment and is demanding millions more in federal grants,” he continued.
“It’s disturbing to see District Attorney Bragg waste federal resources for political purposes rather than addressing the serious crime in his city.
“As a member of the House Judiciary and Oversight & Accountability Committees, and with an almost insurmountable national debt that exceeds $31 trillion, the nation simply cannot afford to support Mr. Bragg’s politicization of the criminal justice system.”
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The Manhattan District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Republicans have antagonized Bragg over his criminal investigation into Trump, alleging that the Manhattan DA is politically motivated and issuing subpoenas for documents related to his work. Bragg, in turn, has sued House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., accusing Republicans of “an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack” on law enforcement.
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In their back-and-forth, Republicans have insisted that lawmakers have a legitimate legislative interest in conducting oversight over Bragg because the Manhattan DA receives federal funding. Attorneys for Bragg’s office have countered that the DA’s office has contributed more than $1 billion to the federal government through forfeited assets in the past 15 years and that only a “small fraction” of those funds are received by the district attorney.
DA records indicate that approximately $5,000 was spent on expenses incurred relating to the Trump or Trump Organization investigations and that none of those expenses were paid for with funds received through federal grant programs, general counsel Leslie B. Dubeck wrote in a letter to House Republicans last month.