House Panel Plans Manhattan Hearing. Bragg Calls It a ‘Political Stunt.’he Republican-led House Judiciary Committee said on Monday that it would hold a hearing in Manhattan on what it called the “pro-crime” policies of the borough’s district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, a Democrat who is leading the criminal prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump.
The move was the latest by Mr. Trump’s congressional defenders to try to tarnish Mr. Bragg, a target of their attacks even before he announced in late March that the former president had been indicted. Mr. Trump faces felony charges stemming from a hush-money payment to a pornographic film star in the final days of the 2016 campaign.
In a message posted on Twitter, Representative Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican and a committee member, expressed the event’s animating idea this way: “If Bragg can spend resources indicting President Trump, he should be able to address the soaring crime in NYC.”
Mr. Bragg’s office wasted little time responding.
“Don’t be fooled,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “The House G.O.P. is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt.”
Dismissing the premise of the hearing — that Manhattan is experiencing a surging crime wave — Mr. Bragg’s spokeswoman said that data issued by the Police Department last week showed declines in Manhattan in murders (down 14 percent), shootings (17 percent), burglaries (21 percent) and robberies (8 percent) through April 2, compared with the same period last year.........
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/10/nyregion/bragg-manhattan-house-hearing.html
