Now that DA Bragg has actually indicted former President Donald Trump, House Republicans are scrambling to finish creating and then introduce legislation that would restrict state or local prosecutors from prosecuting former presidents by moving such cases to federal court, away from likely biased local juries.
Rep. Jim Jordan said, when speaking to Just the News about the legislation, that it is being spearheaded by Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina, a fellow House Judiciary Committee member, and that it’s meant to protect former presidents by giving them a venue change option. The bill, called the No More Political Prosecutions Act, is slated to be introduced this week.
Rep. Jordan, speaking about it, said, “says if you have someone, a local DA, going to take on a former president and a current candidate and they go indict them, then that case automatically gets bumped to federal court, not some local or state court.”
Rep. Fry’s office, speaking about the bill, said “Presidents and Vice Presidents are among the most visible politicians in the United States government — making them a target for rogue prosecutors looking to build up their profile and make a name for themselves on the political stage,” Fry’s office said. “Because of that threat, it’s important for Presidents and Vice Presidents to have the option to move their case to a federal court — where judges are confirmed by the U.S. Senate, serve in their role for life, and don’t need to win an election to keep their position.”
That’s not the only bill the House GOP is introducing to fight DA Bragg. Rep. Andy Biggs is introducing the No Federal Funds for Political Prosecutions Act, which would prohibit prosecutors from using federal asset forfeiture funds to investigate presidents. Further, Rep. Bigg is behind the Accountability for Lawless Violence In Our Neighborhoods Act, or the ALVIN Act, which would require Bragg return those federal dollars used to prosecute Trump.
Speaking about it, he said, “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. 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 then added, “It’s disturbing to see District Attorney Bragg waste federal resources for political purposes rather than addressing the serious crime in his city.”
Rep. Jordan, discussing the situation, and how the FEC declined to prosecute the issue but DA Bragg has used it to attack Trump, said, “It’s all about, supposedly, this campaign benefit [Trump] got by this nondisclosure agreement. So if he uses campaign funds for it, then the FEC would go after him. But if he doesn’t use campaign funds, the local DA goes after him. He couldn’t win either way. So when you have that kind of conflict in place, of course, it’s a federal concern.“
"*" indicates required fields