Jim Jordan's Hearing in Bragg's Backyard 'Skirts Close' to Interference

This week's House Judiciary Committee hearing in New York City led by GOP Representative Jim Jordan approached interference in the legal case against Donald Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to a political scientist.

"The committee is certainly skirting close to interference with the case, which sets a dangerous precedent," Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Houston, told Newsweek.

On Monday, Jordan and the committee, which he chairs, met near Bragg's office to discuss violent crime in the city and express their criticism of the Manhattan DA. Earlier this month, Bragg's investigation led to a grand jury indictment of Trump, and the former president was later arraigned on 34 criminal charges in connection with an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.

Since his indictment, Trump—who denies any wrongdoing in the case, as well as an alleged affair with Daniels—and Republican allies such as Jordan have attacked Bragg and his policies regarding crime in New York City. However, the DA's office has cited statistics showing that violent crime in Manhattan has dropped since Bragg took office in January 2022, according to the Associated Press.

Before Monday's hearing in New York, Jordan and other GOP committee chairmen in the House had requested information on Bragg's investigation of Trump. In response, Bragg filed a lawsuit against Jordan, charging that the Judiciary Committee is trying to interfere with the DA's legal case against the former president.

Newsweek reached out to Jordan's press secretary via email for comment.

Bragg's office wrote in the lawsuit: "Congress has no power to supervise state criminal prosecutions.... Nor does Congress have the power to serve subpoenas 'for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to punish those investigated.' Yet that is precisely what Chairman Jordan is trying to do."

Jordan and Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee have accused Bragg of using the DA's investigation into Trump to possibly interfere in the 2024 presidential election. "Alvin Bragg, as you know, is going after President Trump when you have all kinds of things happening in his town [New York City] that are harmful to families who live there," Jordan said during an appearance on Fox News earlier this month.

However, Rottinghaus said that "the more political the case, the harder it is to find justice. Republicans may win points with the base for nominally defending Trump, but the way they do so may actually make it harder to get a nonpolitical resolution."

Michael McAuliffe, a former state attorney in Florida and a former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek that while the New York City hearing was expected to focus on violent crime, it "was really an exercise of political gimmickry."

"Victims of violent crime must be respected for their individual and collective suffering and, often, their courage as survivors," he said. "However, that a legislative committee chair would descend for a day and parade selected crime victims and their members for the purpose of attacking a district attorney speaks volumes about the lack of real dialogue on fighting crime.

"Political stunts don't save lives or prevent crime," McAuliffe continued. "It's not necessary to agree with a prosecutor's exercise of charging discretion to respect the legal process. If Chairman Jim Jordan wasn't hiding behind the protections of his legislative office, he'd be a candidate for obstruction of justice."

In a statement Tuesday, Bragg's office said, "For outside politicians to now appear in New York City on the taxpayer dime for a political stunt is a slap in the face to the dedicated NYPD officers, prosecutors and other public servants who work tirelessly every day with facts and data to keep our home safe."