GQP Clown Show Comes To New York In Bid To Taint The Jury Pool In Donald Trump’s Trials (Updated)

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CNN reports, House GOP escalates defense of Trump with New York field hearing seeking to discredit Manhattan DA:

The GQP Clown Show, the House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, are exemplifying the lengths they are willing to go to discredit Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against former President Donald Trump with a Monday New York field hearing on Bragg’s home turf.

The hearing, billed as focusing on crime in New York, comes as the legal drama between Bragg and House Republicans has intensified in recent days. Bragg sued House Judiciary Chairman “Gym” Jordan and sought to block him from taking certain investigative steps, arguing that Congress doesn’t have oversight authority over state-level criminal prosecutions.

It also serves as the latest example of how Trump continues to wield enormous power on Capitol Hill as House Republicans seek to curry favor with the former president, coming to his defense through their investigations and routinely updating him and his closest advisers on their progress [i.e., “weaponization” of congressional committees.]. In the wake of his indictment, Trump called up members of House GOP leadership and key committee members to shore up support on Capitol Hill, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

So Donald Trump is soliciting jury tampering with a hearing designed to taint the jury pool in his upcoming trials in New York, which includes the civil fraud trial being pursued by New York Attorney General Leticia James, who deposed Donald Trump just last week.

Through their witnesses, House Republicans will seek to make the case that Bragg is more focused on going after Trump for political reasons than addressing crime in New York City, a claim Bragg vehemently denies. A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA’s office said in a statement posted to Twitter that the hearing is a “political stunt.”

Monday’s hearing will be the first in a series of field hearings focusing on crime in Democratic-run cities, a source familiar with Republicans’ plans told CNN.

Democrats, meanwhile, will argue at the hearing that if Republicans truly cared about violent crime, they would not have held the hearing in Manhattan, where crime is lower compared with other New York City boroughs, and, beyond that, would be focusing on crime in rural areas, a source familiar with Democrats’ plans tells CNN.

Committee Democrats will also try to pivot the conversation to gun violence, the source added, and argue that Republicans have refused to work on gun legislation even though mass shootings continue to ravage the country. Prior to the hearing, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary panel, and gun safety advocates will hold a news conference.

Monday’s event marks the first time that Democrats on the committee have joined a field hearing in this session of Congress.

Both sides also lobbied to get additional members added to the hearing, a standard practice, but a move that underscores each party’s desire to bring in additional voices to help articulate their respective message. Judiciary Republicans added to their side of the dais House GOP Conference Chair [and Trump fluffer] Elise Stefanik, who represents a district in upstate New York.

New York Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat will also join Monday’s field hearing. In a joint statement, the pair argued that through this hearing Republicans are trying to “interfere in an ongoing criminal investigation.”

[D]espite claims from top Republicans, Manhattan’s current levels of both violent crime in general and murder in particular are way down from the record levels of the early 1990s.

While there was an uptick in many types of crime in Manhattan in 2022 compared to 2021, a number of crimes have come back down significantly in 2023 so far. Bragg took office as Manhattan DA in 2022.

The legal drama

Bragg has pushed back on the GOP’s efforts to investigate his criminal probe, claiming in his lawsuit, “Congress lacks any valid legislative purpose to engage in a free-ranging campaign of harassment in retaliation for the District Attorney’s investigation and prosecution of Mr. Trump under the laws of New York.”

The district attorney also took aim at Republicans for interfering in an ongoing criminal case, writing that “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.”

Bragg asked the court to block the Judiciary committee’s subpoena for testimony from a former senior prosecutor in his office, Mark Pomerantz. Pomerantz resigned from the DA’s office in 2022, after Bragg said he wasn’t prepared to move forward with criminal charges against Trump. Pomerantz, in his resignation letter, said Trump was “guilty of numerous felony violations” related to his annual financial statements.

Jordan has also demanded documents and testimony from Bragg, as well as information from another former prosecutor from his office, as part of Jordan’s congressional probe. The engagement from Bragg’s office has so far staved off a congressional subpoena for now.

Republicans have seized on Pomerantz’s previous comments as a sign that the 34 felony criminal charges brought against Trump this year in Manhattan were politically motivated. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

The question around Bragg’s use of federal funds

House Republicans have made the Manhattan District Attorney’s office use of federal funds the crux of their justification for why they have jurisdiction over Bragg’s case.

Bragg’s office disclosed in a recent letter that out of the more than one billion dollars in asset forfeiture funds it helped the federal government secure, approximately $5,000 was spent on expenses relating to Trump or the Trump organization between October 2019 and August 2021, but maintains that no federal grant money was used toward expenses in the Trump investigation.

Republicans have seized on this revelation, and have already started introducing legislation pertaining to Bragg.

House GOP Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina introduced legislation in the House last week that would allow former and current presidents and vice presidents the ability to move their own criminal or civil cases from state court to a federal court. GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona introduced a pair of bills, one of which would defund the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

In his lawsuit, Bragg claimed House Republicans have “manufactured new supposed legislative objectives.”

Tom Boggioni reports, Jim Jordan’s personal history will be fair game for Democrats at Alvin Bragg hearing: analyst:

During a panel discussion on MSNBC early Sunday morning, one political analyst claimed House Judiciary Committee Chair “Gym” Jordan (R-OH) may be faced with Democrats bringing up sordid details from the Ohio Republican’s personal life and crime rates in his home state during his Monday hearing on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

On Monday, Jordan will take his show on the road to New York City for a hearing aimed at Bragg, accusing him of “pro-crime, anti-victim policies.”

Speaking with Ayman Mohyeldin, political analyst Matthew Dowd claimed Jordan’s attack on Bragg, with Democrats primed to push back, will open the door to everything Jordan-related.And that could include accusations the Ohio lawmaker witnessed sexual assault and kept quiet about it when he was a wrestling coach at Ohio State.

According to Dowd, Democrats will highlight the crime rates in Jordan’s Ohio when he tries to paint New York City as crime-ridden and then tie that to Bragg.

“I think your point leading into this, the facts said in this (are that) not only does Columbus have three times the crime rate that New York City has. The actual hometown where “Gym” Jordan is from has a higher crime rate a small town has a higher crime rate than New York City and of course that eight of the top ten crime rate states in America are red states,” he explained.

“And, the other thing, I’ll just add: if he really wanted to find out answers to the unanswered questions about crime, then hold it on the Ohio State University campus and ask about the sexual abuse scandals that occurred while he was the wrestling coach,” he continued. “That would be a more formal and more interesting thing to find out undiscovered information.”

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) slammed “Gym” Jordan’s sham Manhattan crime hearing as a scam to protect Trump, in a press conference ahead of the sham hearing.

Jerry Nadler Devastates Jim Jordan’s Scam Manhattan Hearing To Protect Trump:

Rep. Nadler said:

In a few minutes, the House Judiciary Committee will convene what the Chairman calls a field hearing. It may have some of the trappings of a hearing—we will have opening statements and witnesses, and the Members will ask questions. But don’t be fooled. This is not a serious exercise. This is a political stunt.

I was the Chairman of the Committee for four years, and I took that solemn responsibility seriously. I know what a real hearing—and real oversight—looks like. That is not what we are going to see today.

This hearing is being called for one reason, and one reason only: to protect Donald Trump.

“Gym” Jordan and his Republican accomplices are acting as an extension of the Trump defense team, trying to intimidate and deter the duly elected District Attorney of Manhattan from doing the work his constituents elected him to do. They are using their public offices, and the resources of our committee, to protect their political patron, Donald Trump. That is an outrageous abuse of power. It is—to use Chairman Jordan’s favorite term—a weaponization of the Judiciary Committee.

The Chairman says this hearing is about the victims of violent crime in Manhattan. Never mind the fact that New York is one of the safest big cities in America. Never mind that—under the leadership of Mayor Adams and Alvin Bragg—over the last year, crime in Manhattan has dropped in nearly every major category—including murders, down 14%; shootings, down 17%; burglaries, down 21%; and robberies, down 8%.

And never mind that House Republicans have voted consistently to make New York—and other cities across this country—less safe.

Since when did my Republican colleagues become so concerned about the lives and safety of New Yorkers? Certainly not when they voted against billions of dollars in money for law enforcement in the American Rescue Plan. Certainly not when they refused to condemn Donald Trump’s call to defund the FBI and the Department of Justice. And certainly not when they worked to block Democratic efforts to pass sensible gun safety legislation.

We all grieve for the victims of violent crime—here in Manhattan and everywhere. But if “Gym” Jordan and his Republican Members really cared about protecting New Yorkers, they would join Democrats in addressing the iron pipeline that floods our streets with illegal guns from states with less strict gun laws.

They would join our efforts to ban assault weapons, to enact extreme risk protection laws, and to crack down on ghost guns. But instead, they have only worked to put more guns on the streets, and to put us all at greater risk.

Democrats have consistently advanced policy solutions that make all of our communities—including New York—safer places to live, work, and go to school, and we will make that clear today. But that’s not why Republicans have called this hearing. This is just part of their efforts to protect Donald Trump by any means necessary.

Alvin Bragg is the duly elected district attorney in New York County. He has brought significant evidence before a grand jury, which has seen fit to indict Donald Trump. Donald Trump will have an opportunity to defend himself against the charges. That process will now play out in the courts, and it is not the place of Congress—Republicans or Democrats—to interfere with any judicial proceeding.

“Gym” Jordan engages in a lot of political theater in Washington, but he should know better than to take his tired act to Broadway. New Yorkers see through this transparent attempt to defend Donald Trump at all costs, while ignoring the real public safety needs of our community.

It is amazing, “Gym”Jordan has never cared about crime in Manhattan until Donald Trump was indicted. One of the biggest problems that House Republicans have run into while trying to push their scams, conspiracy theories, and Trump protection schemes is that Democrats are fighting back.

UPDATE: Protesters tried on Monday to disrupt a House Judiciary Committee hearing on violent crime in New York City. The demonstrators packed into a hallway outside the hearing room with signs calling to indict committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), who they called a “traitor,” reported Punchbowl News correspondent Mica Soellner.

Mica Soellner has a play-by-play on her Twitter feed. Here are just a few posts.

So Donald Trump/”Gym” Jordan supporters disrupted this GQP clown show? Where are Roger Stone and his Proud Boys thugs? This sounds like the GQP ratfucker Roger Stone’s kind of political stunt to me.





1 thought on “GQP Clown Show Comes To New York In Bid To Taint The Jury Pool In Donald Trump’s Trials (Updated)”

  1. The New York Daily News welcomed “Gym” Jordan and his GQP Clown Show to New York. “Ohio murder rates far higher than NYC as state’s GOP Rep. Jim Jordan slams city’s crime woes”, https://nordot.app/1020722908792553472?c=592622757532812385

    Before Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan gavels into order a House Judiciary Committee hearing Monday aimed at shaming New York City’s crime problem, he might consider a deep look at the far higher murder rates of his home state.

    Ohioans are more likely to die from gun violence than New Yorkers — and the state’s overall murder rate far exceeds that of New York City and of Manhattan alone, a Daily News analysis of federal Centers for Disease Control data shows.

    In 2021 — the last year for which reliable data is available — homicides accounted for 8.7 deaths for every 100,000 Ohio residents.

    That homicide rate was 73% higher than Manhattan’s homicide rate of 5.0 deaths per 100,000 residents.

    Ohio’s statewide homicide rate is 49% higher than New York City’s overall rate of 5.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents, The News’ study found.

    Ohio’s homicide rate is also 87% higher than New York’s statewide rate of 4.6 homicides per 100,000 residents.

    In an appearance last week on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” program, Jordan, a Republican, lit in to “crazy left wing ideology” that he said makes crime rampant in Manhattan. He blames Manhattan’s crime problems on District Attorney Alvin Bragg — who is also drawing Republican ire over his prosecution of former president Donald Trump.

    “You have all kinds of things happening in his [Bragg’s] town that are harmful to families that live there,” Jordan said.

    Jordan wasn’t specific about the “crazy left wing ideology” that he implied drives New York crime policy. But gun control is one big area of disagreement between Ohio Republicans and New York City’s Democratic political leadership.

    Gun permits in New York remain notoriously difficult to obtain — despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down a 1911 state law that restricted concealed-carry handgun licenses to people with specific self-defense needs.

    But in 2021, when that law was still in place with other state firearm laws, New Yorkers saw far fewer gun homicides per capita in 2021 than Ohioans, who under their state’s laws can buy guns without licenses or permits.

    Guns were used in 86% of murders in Ohio in 2021, compared to 67% of homicides in New York state, The News’ analysis found.

    And in Manhattan, guns were used in 57% of homicides. In all of New York City, guns were used in 69% of homicides.

    Easy firearms purchases in Ohio and other states are a chronic problem for New York law enforcement.

    Some 93% of the guns used in New York crimes from 2017 through 2021 originated from out of state — a figure that compares to a national out-of-state average of 28%, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Steven Dettelbach recently told members of New York City’s Citizens Crime Commission.

    [O]hio has such stories too — such as that of Unique Pratter, whose shooting death on Dec. 31 made her the 140th homicide victim in Columbus, the state capital, that year. Her alleged killer turned out to be a 14-year-old boy.

    Columbus is the nearest big city to Jordan’s congressional district. Franklin County — which includes Columbus — had a homicide death rate of 16.0 per 100,000 people in 2021, nearly three times New York City’s rate, the CDC data shows.

    Crime rose in New York during the pandemic. But the most recent NYPD data shows crime in most categories is down significantly so far this year compared to 2022. As of April 9, murders year-to-date are down 9.9%, rape is down 7.5%, burglaries are down 7.8%, and robberies are down 3.5%.

    Homicides are down significantly from their pandemic peak. Police counted 438 murders in 2022, a decline of 10.2% from the 488 in 2021.

    Data showing Jordan and other Ohioans that their state is more dangerous on a per capita basis than New York City probably won’t change any minds, said Jeffrey Butts, a research professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

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