'Don't be fooled': Alvin Bragg shreds Jim Jordan over planned field hearing in Manhattan

On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee under Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced they would be holding a "field hearing" in Manhattan next week, called "Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan."

The hearing, the Committee advertises, "will examine how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents."

But in a statement put out by a spokesperson in his office later that day and posted to Twitter, Bragg clapped back, pointing out that violent crime in New York is actually down since he took office — and lower than in major cities in Jordan's own home state.

"The Manhattan D.A.'s Office welcomes public safety conversations," said the statement. "In fact, we'll start: Just-released NYPD data show shootings and homicides are down in New York City for the first quarter of this year ... Virtually every major crime category is lower in Manhattan now than it was last year (as of 4/2/23): murders are down 14%, shootings are down 14%, burglaries are down 21%, and robberies are down 8%."

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"In D.A. Bragg's first year in office, New York City had one of the lowest murder rates of major cities in the United States (5.2) — nearly three times lower than Columbus, Ohio (15.4)," the statement continued. "If Chairman Jordan truly cared about public safety, he could take a short drive to Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, or Toledo in his home state, instead of using taxpayer dollars to travel hundreds of miles out of his way."

This comes as Republicans have subpoenaed Bragg's office for information about the indictment of former President Donald Trump — raising questions about whether the crime field hearing is an attempt to distract or intimidate prosecutors from pursuing those charges.