GOP lawmakers seek to cut off funding to Bragg, other prosecutors

A group of GOP lawmakers has introduced legislation that would bar any state or local prosecutor from using federal funds to investigate a president and singles out Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) office with a bill that would force it to return federal funding.

The legislation — the Accountability for Lawless Violence In our Neighborhoods Act or ALVIN Act — would require Bragg’s office to return all federal funding received since he took office.

According to Bragg’s office, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office receives about $630,000 annually and also has access to another $200,000 to use by 2024, through various grants designed to help local law enforcement combat crime.

But Bragg says under his tenure none has been spent on the prosecution or investigation of former President Trump. 

In a letter to lawmakers in March, he detailed that about $5,000 was spent by his predecessor relating to investigations of the Trump organization.

However Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who spearheaded the legislation, cites federal funding as the impetus for the bill.

“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,” he said in a press release announcing the filing of the legislation.

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

Bragg’s office broke down the funding earlier this year, saying the $5,000 came from “federal forfeiture money that the Office helped collect” before he took over the post in January of 2022.

“These expenses were incurred between October 2019 and August 2021. Most of those costs are attributed to the Supreme Court case, Trump v. Vance—subpoena-related litigation in which the DA’s Office prevailed and which led to the indictment and conviction of Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and two Trump organizations,” Bragg’s office stated.

“No expenses incurred relating to this matter have been paid from funds that the Office receives through federal grant programs.” 

Another bill led by Biggs would not allow any prosecutor who receives funding through various federal programs to “investigate or prosecute the President or Vice President, a former President or Vice President, or a candidate for the office of President.”

While Republicans have claimed Bragg’s prosecution is purely political, Bragg recently filed a lawsuit seeking to block a subpoena from House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), accusing him of improperly interfering in an ongoing prosecution.

“The charges the District Attorney filed against Mr. Trump were approved by citizens of New York,” the suit states.

“Rather than allowing the criminal process to proceed in the ordinary course, Chairman Jordan and the Committee are participating in a campaign of intimidation, retaliation, and obstruction.”