Liberal Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has proved to be a hostile witness to the three House committees trying to find out if he’s illegally using federal funds to target the Democrats’ No. 1 political enemy.
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI-01) says he’s “hopeful” Bragg will respond to a straight forward request for information — without the use of a subpoena, or contempt of congress charges.
“I think we’re asking pretty appropriate questions that I think the American people need to know the answers to,” Steil, chairman of the House Committee on Administration, told WISN 12 News’ Upfront’s Matt Smith this week. “1) are U.S. taxpayer dollars going for public safety being repurposed in a political manner. 2) is he (Bragg) working in conjunction with U.S. agencies, in particular the Department of Justice. [3] Is he trying to usurp the federal role of enforcing federal campaign finance laws.”
“I’m hopeful he ultimately changes his mind and comes to the table to have that conversation with us,” Steil added.
To date, Bragg has dug in his heels, blasting Steil and fellow U.S. representatives — James Comer (R-KY-01), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and Jim Jordan (R-OH-04), chair of the House Judiciary Committee — for investigating the investigator. Bragg is pushing a controversial prosecution of Trump, alleging the former president’s hush-money payments to cover up an alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election were illegally accounted for.
Bragg has accused the lawmakers of collaborating with Trump to “vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges.” It’s an interesting accusation from a a highly partisan Democrat prosecutor who critics say is engaged in a political witch hunt against a former president looking for a 2024 election rematch against Democrat President Joe Biden. Bragg explicitly campaigned on a pledge to “get Trump.”
The former president arrived in New York Monday. He’s scheduled to face more than 30 criminal charges at a historic arraignment on Tuesday, following last week’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury. Trump is the first current or former president to be indicted.
Bragg’s attorney last week informed the committee chairs that approximately $5,000 of federal funds was spent “on expenses incurred relating to the investigation of Donald J. Trump or The Trump Organization.” The funds, according to the Manhattan DA’s office, came from federal forfeiture money the office “helped collected.”
The disclosure is raising more questions.
“We’re asking the question,” Steil said. “If the answer was simple I would think that the District Attorney would not be uncomfortable in coming before us in a a transcribed interview.”
Bragg and fellow Democrats have accused the House Republicans of overstepping federal authority in their investigation of a local district attorney, a curious charge coming from defenders of sweeping federal powers.
Steil said the committees’ authority is clear under the constitution because there is a direct federal connection. District attorney offices take federal funds for public safety measures. The question, Steil said, is whether Bragg and his office are using the money for political purposes.
On that front, Steil’s Administration Committee has oversight authority over federal election law. Bragg’s legal theory in prosecuting Trump appears to be a suspect claim that the former president or his surrogates used campaign finance funds to pay for the porn star’s silence, without noting the expenditures in campaign finance reports.
“We want to make sure the campaign finance laws are being enforced in a nonpartisan manner, meaning everyone is being treated equally under the law,” Steil said on Upfront.
Interestingly, Bragg’s website proclaims the DA practices “One Standard of Justice for All.”
Steil said the goal of the committees’ work is to provide transparency to the American people.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Bryan Steil” by Congressman Bryan Steil. Photo “Alvin Bragg” by Alvin Bragg. Photo “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Courtroom” by Carol M. Highsmith.
Another woke Democrat who feels he is above the law. All people are subject to oversight.