WASHINGTON — The Republicans’ defense against former President Donald Trump took a surprising turn: They are threatening to defund his prosecutor.
Trump and his fellow GOP candidates have been shaming progressive Democrats for their support of a “defund police” movement, which seeks to shift resources away from traditional law enforcement towards community services that reduce crime.
The slogan of the progressives proved to be an effective weapon against Democrats, and Joe Biden felt obliged during his 2020 campaign for more federal funding for police.
Trump is now facing allegations that he paid hush funds to Stormy Daniels, a film star, in order to support his 2016 presidential bid. House Republicans threaten federal funding for Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney. The GOP seeks to weaken prosecutors who were supported by liberal billionaire George Soros .
“Your decision to pursue such an politically motivated prosecution –while adopting progressive crime justice policies that allow career criminals [to] run[t] the streets] of Manhattan — requires congressional scrutiny over how public safety funds appropriated to Congress are implemented by local police-enforcement agencies,” Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), James Comer (R-Ky.) and Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), wrote Monday.
Bragg was invited to testify by the three lawmakers who are the heads of the Judiciary Oversight, Administration, and Oversight committees. They demanded that he hand over all communications between his office and any other federal and local law enforcement agencies. They also demanded all communications from Bragg’s office regarding federal money.
The letter comes after Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s tweet this weekend vowing to investigate “if federal funds were being used to subvert democracy by interfering with elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”
Trump is the front-runner to win the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
Although the Justice Department provides funds to state and local prosecutor’s offices through a variety grant programs, including those that combat violent crime and hate crimes, they only make up a small percentage of Manhattan’s district attorney budget.
Michael Steele, who was a former chairman, of the Republican National Committee, has been a vocal critic. He said GOP lawmakers would be outraged that Democrats want to investigate federal funding for local prosecutors based on ongoing cases.
He said, “Now you have Republicans talking about ‘We want your money from you.'” “If any Democrat behaved like this, these very people would be losing their —.. It’s as simple as that.
Former President Donald Trump at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday.
Sue Ogrocki / AP
Jordan evaded a Fox News interview Monday asking about Congress’s plans for federal funding of the prosecutor’s office.
He said that “that’s a concern” and referred to his desire to obtain records of Bragg’s communications with law enforcement agencies.
In a second twist, however, it is political money and not federal cash that has dominated most of the GOP’s discussions about the possible indictment.
Trump declared Saturday that he would be indicted Tuesday without any evidence. He and other Republicans have also targeted the support Soros-backed entities have provided progressive candidates for elected positions as prosecutor jobs.
Florida Governor said that he had no interest in participating in a Soros-DA-manufactured circus. Ron DeSantis is Trump’s main rival for the GOP presidential nominating office. He stated in his first public comments since Trump suggested that he would face indictment this week.
Trump and his allies were furious Monday at what they considered a weak defense for the former president, in which DeSantis also repeated some of the accusations against him. The parroting of Trump’s attacks on Soros, Bragg and other allegations put the GOP’s two most prominent presidential candidates in a position of having a common enemy.
All Republicans find it easy to attack Democrats, liberals and big-city prosecutors. This is why the House GOP insists on investigating federal funds flowing to the Manhattan district lawyer. Another reason is that they have an opening to request records and testimony from local officials, as Congress oversees federal funds. Notable is the fact that Kay Granger (Republican from Texas), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees spending, didn’t sign this letter.
DeSantis and other Republicans have been shaming Soros for supporting prosecutors who support policies that do not enforce certain crimes. This is partly because this philosophy is the core of the “defund police” movement. DeSantis’ most recent book includes eight mentions of the billionaire.
He contrasts “the duty of prosecutor to prosecute” with the non-enforcement wants of Soros-backed officials from Florida in one passage.
McCarthy’s aide provided a copy the House Republicans 2022 “Commitment to America Agenda” in response to a question on the difference between funding the police and funding a prosecutor. It promises that Republicans will “oppose any efforts to defund police” and “crackdown on prosecutors refusing to prosecute crime.”
Republicans have turned the argument around and are trying to pressure a prosecutor not to indict Trump.
Steele stated that the party is wrapped around an axle trying to defend its former leader and potential future leader.
He said, “Here’s a kicker.” “Donald Trump would not have to pay $130,000 to a pornstar if he was having an affair with his wife while he was giving birth to his son.” That GOP is a good one to chew on.
Trump denied that he had an affair with Daniels. His youngest son was born March 2006, just a few months after Daniels claimed she had sex in Trump’s presence.
