Republican Bills Cut Off Funding for Manhattan DA Bragg, Other Law Enforcement Agencies

Originally published April 13, 2023 9:30 am PDT

A group of Republican lawmakers on Thursday put forward legislation aimed at preventing state and local prosecutors from using federal funds to investigate a president.

One of the bills is dubbed the ‘Accountability for Lawless Violence In our Neighborhoods Act‘ or ALVIN Act and specifically targets Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, mandating the return of all federal funding received since Bragg assumed office.

DA Bragg (49) is a Democrat who has made headlines by becoming the first prosecutor to bring a criminal case against a current or former American president, specifically, former President Donald J. Trump. His office conducted an investigation that led to Trump’s indictment, and as a result, he has been thrust into the national spotlight and faced criticism from Trump and his Republican allies.

Bragg’s office reportedly receives approximately $630,000 per year and has access to an additional $200,000 through various grants, all intended to support local law enforcement in combating crime.

Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ), the driving force behind the legislation, points to federal funding as the motivation for the ALVIN Act.

“This weaponized prosecutor’s office has spent thousands of federal taxpayer dollars to subsidize this political indictment and is demanding millions more in federal grants,” Rep. Biggs said in a press release accompanying the legislation’s filing.

“It’s disturbing to see District Attorney Bragg waste federal resources for political purposes rather than addressing the serious crime in his city.”

Rep. Biggs also introduced the ‘No Federal Funds for Political Prosecutions Act,’ which “prohibits state or local law enforcement agencies from using funds or property seized through asset forfeiture, to investigate or prosecute the President, Vice President, or a candidate for the office of President in a criminal case,” according to the press release.

“District Attorney Alvin Bragg ran on a campaign pledge to indict President Trump. Bragg took the unprecedented action of converting alleged minor business misdemeanors to 34 individual felonies in an attempt to put President Trump behind bars and humiliate him and his supporters,” said Biggs.

“As a member of the House Judiciary and Oversight & Accountability Committees, and with an almost insurmountable national debt that exceeds $31 trillion, the nation simply cannot afford to support Mr. Bragg’s politicization of the criminal justice system,” he added.

Cosponsors of the bills include Reps. Mary Miller (R-IL), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Bob Good (R-VA).

The day before introducing his new legislation, Biggs told his Twitter followers, “Tomorrow, I am officially holding rogue Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accountable for the lawlessness in NYC and for the weaponized indictment of President Trump.”

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