Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office last week charged former President Donald Trump with 34 felony charges, will be the subject of a hearing by the Republican-led Judiciary Committee next week.
In a brief message posted on its website, the committee promised to investigate Bragg's "pro-crime, anti-victim policies" starting at 9 a.m. April 17 at the Javits Federal Building in lower Manhattan.
Bragg's office called the hearing a political stunt.
"This hearing won't engage in the actual efforts to increase public safety, such as supporting national gun legislation and shutting down the iron pipeline," Bragg's office wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.
Control of the congressional committee changed earlier this year when the Republican majority took office in the House. The new committee chairman, Jim Jordan of Ohio, is a fierce Trump loyalist who in March accused Bragg of an "unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority" if he charged Trump in connection with hush money payments to adult film performer Stormy Daniels.
The committee's statement asserts that policies implemented by Bragg, who took office in 2022, have caused a spike in violent crime. NYPD crime reports show that although some types of crime have increased in parts of Manhattan, the overall data remain mixed.
The soft-on-crime accusations have dogged Bragg since he campaigned on a platform that promised widespread changes in how crimes were prosecuted in the borough. Among other things, Bragg made early declarations that he would lessen charges against those accused of some drug offenses and robberies, and he vowed to stop prosecutions of some people who resist arrest or don't pay their subway fare. Although he walked back some of those promises, the criticism has continued.
Manhattan Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler is the former Judiciary Committee chairman and remains on the committee as its ranking member. His office did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
The indictment of Trump led his supporters to increase their attacks on Bragg, the first Black Manhattan district attorney. In the lead-up to the indictment, Trump called Bragg an "animal" in a since-deleted post that was widely viewed as racist.
Trump was arraigned last week. His next scheduled in-person court hearing is Dec. 4.
The story has been updated with comment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.
Correction: The story has been updated to correct where the hearing will take place.
