Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) joked on Twitter that former President Trump should “smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop” on his way to the Manhattan district attorney’s office as a tactic to avoid prosecution.
Graham, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the ironic comment to allude to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) reputation as a soft-on-crime prosecutor and his record of winning fewer felony convictions than his predecessor.
“How can President Trump avoid prosecution in New York?” Graham tweeted to set up his punchline.
“On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote.
The joke took a shot at Bragg’s record in office since winning election in 2021.
The New York Post reported in November that Bragg had downgraded 52 percent of felony cases in his jurisdiction to misdemeanors — doing so significantly more often than his predecessor, former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
The Post also reported that Bragg’s office won conviction in only 51 percent of felony cases, compared to the 68-percent conviction rate Vance compiled in 2019.
Bragg has come under fire from critics for circulating a memo in January of last year instructing prosecutors to seek prison sentences for only the most serious crimes.
He backed off that guidance in February of last year by circulating an email to his staff clarifying that prosecutors should use their own judgment and discretion in deciding how to handle cases and what penalties to seek.