MANHATTAN, New York – During a field hearing in New York City on Monday, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of being soft on crime and of doing the bidding of left-wing activists.
“Here in Manhattan, the scales of justice are weighed down by politics,” Jordan, who chairs the committee, said during his opening statement.
Democrats called the hearing a charade with the purpose of defending former President Donald Trump, who was recently charged with 34 felonies by Bragg for trying to hide hush money payments to an adult film star. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
“It is an outrageous abuse of power. It is, to use the chairman’s favorite term, a weaponization of the House Judiciary Committee,” New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the committee’s top Democrat, said of Jordan’s decision to hold the hearing.
Several witnesses called by the Republicans accused Bragg of not taking crime seriously enough. Some had loved ones murdered in Manhattan.
“If Alvin Bragg was doing his job, none of us would be here today to talk,” said Jennifer Harrison, the founder of Victims Rights NY.
Madeline Brame, the chair of the Victims Rights Reform Council, emotionally told committee members that, “Me, my family, my grandchildren, we were treated like garbage.”
A left-leaning policy expert who was summoned to testify by Democrats refuted claims that New York City is more dangerous than other areas.
“On average, New York City is safer than Ohio, Texas, many other places,” said Jim Kessler, a co-founder of the think tank Third Way.
During the hearing, Braggs’ office tweeted statistics showing that crime is actually falling in Manhattan.
The hearing is seen as part of a broad effort by Jordan and his fellow Republicans to discredit Democrats and Bragg on the issue of crime, as well as to undermine the credibility of Bragg’s investigation of Trump.
As Democrats accused Jordan of unfairly mixing politics with justice, Jordan supporters in the hearing room started yelling at the Democratic members.
“You guys are scumbags! All of you!” one attendee yelled, as police escorted him out.
Christopher Herrmann, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said recent data shows crime rates are falling in New York City, even when compared to Columbus, Ohio, which borders Jordan’s district.
“Murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, grand larceny, and auto theft – Columbus has a higher rate of all of those crimes compared to Manhattan,” Herrmann said.
Sam Lisker contributed to the report.
