The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee will be holding a field hearing in New York City next week to focus on violent crime in the Big Apple.
The hearing will become the House GOP’s latest iteration to zero in on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) after a grand jury he empaneled voted to indict former President Donald Trump.
The hearing, called the “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan” will be hosted at the Kavita Federal Building in Manhattan on April 17 at 9 a.m.
The panel is yet to announce its roster or witnesses but has revealed the hearing will assess how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s” pro-crime, anti-victim policies” have resulted in a rise in violent crime and a dangerous community for New Yorkers.
But a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office disregarded the proposed hearing as a “political stunt.”
In a statement, the spokesperson described the House GOP’s decision to visit America’s “safest big city” as a political stunt.
The statement continued, asserting that the hearing wasn’t about real efforts to improve public safety, like supporting a national gun law and shutting down the pipeline.
However, the spokesperson added that Bragg’s office “welcomes” discussions about public safety, adding, “We have them every day with… local, state and federal law enforcement partners.”
The announcement comes less than a week after Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges for his alleged role in arranging adult film actress Stormy Daniels to receive a hush money payment before the 2016 presidential election.
Even before the indictment was official, Trump predicted he would be arrested.
Within hours of Trump’s prediction, Republicans began targeting Bragg, claiming he was a politically motivated rogue prosecutor. There was also an attempt to link him to billionaire George Soros after it was revealed that Soros’ PAC was involved with Bragg’s 2021 campaign.
