Given a chance to explain why she thinks Donald Trump didn't commit any crimes in his alleged payment of hush money to a porn star, Rep. Claudia Tenney passed.
Instead, a spokeswoman for Tenney reiterated the congresswoman's attack on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
In a press release on Friday, Tenney called Bragg "Soros-backed" -- a controversial phrase that the Anti-Defamation League has characterized as antisemitic because it casts Soros, who is Jewish, as the leader of a conspiracy and a "puppet master."
Meg Deenen, a spokeswoman for Tenney, defended the use of the term based on a $1 million contribution George Soros made to Color of Change PAC, which backed Bragg in his Democratic primary campaign for District Attorney.
News broke Friday that the former president was indicted by a New York Grand Jury for allegedly paying $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress whom Trump was reportedly involved with, though Trump has denied an affair. If the payment was made and was intended to help his 2016 presidential campaign, it violated campaign finance laws.
Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, has already been convicted and served a prison term on similar charges, and may be a witness against Trump in the case. Cohen has claimed he was working at Trump's direction in making the alleged payment.
A Grand Jury was investigating similar charges against Trump when Bragg took office in 2022. Bragg was reportedly dissatisfied with the strength of the case at that time, and two prosecutors in his office resigned over the disagreement. Bragg reopened the investigation after members of the Trump organization were convicted on tax fraud charges.
Trump's attorneys have reportedly confirmed the pending indictment against the former president, but it has not yet been unsealed, and we don't know what specific charges it might contain.
Tenney called the indictment a "witch hunt" and "a political persecution with purely malicious intent" in a press release, but offered no facts or evidence to support her claim.
She also attacked Bragg for allowing "violent criminals to walk the streets, downgrading 52 felony charges to misdemeanors."
Bragg is one of a cadre of District Attorneys in large cities across the nation pushing progressive reforms in criminal prosecutions. Critics of such policies -- including Tenney -- say crime is increasing in these cities. Progressive policies likely cost Chesa Boudin, the district attorney in San Francisco, one of the most progressive cities in the U.S., his job. He became hugely unpopular, characterized as "soft on crime," and was ousted in a recall election.
Bragg made headlines when he took office with his "Day One" memo in which he said the prosecution of low-level offenders, including low-level felonies, was clogging an already overburdened court system. He asked prosecutors to concentrate on violent crimes.
According to at least one poll, Bragg's policies are not going over well with New York City residents. The conservative editorial board of the New York Post has attacked Bragg's policies.
But when asked why Tenney believes Bragg's policies, which she attacked, are related to the potential prosecution of Trump, Tenney did not respond.
The Batavian contacted Tenney's staff after receiving the press release Friday because of the "Soros-backed" phrase in its first sentence. The tendency in some circles to paint Soros as the source of evil is widely considered to be antisemitic.
Even if no antisemitic insinuation is intended, casting a Jewish individual as a puppet master who manipulates national events for malign purposes has the effect of mainstreaming antisemitic tropes and giving support, however unwitting, to bona fide antisemites and extremists who disseminate these ideas knowingly and with malice.
The Batavian asked Tenney's office, "Is it Rep. Tenney's intention to perpetuate an antisemitic stereotype by saying Alvin Bragg is 'Soros-backed'?' and if she thought Bragg was prosecuting Trump in order to do the bidding of Soros?
Deneen responded, "It is ludicrous to suggest that stating who George Soros’s donations have supported and criticizing his pro-crime policies is anti-Semitic. The accusation is completely preposterous and, frankly, wildly inappropriate."
The Batavian asked multiple questions in its email, not just about the "Soros-backed" statement, but for the evidence Tenney believes exists that would exonerate Trump. What evidence does she have in her possession, that gives her confidence the Grand Jury is less than impartial and acting with Bragg to pursue a political prosecution? We then followed up with similar questions, after receiving the response above, and noted that to whatever degree Soros might be involved with Bragg, it seems irrelevant to the prosecution of Trump unless Tenney has evidence or facts to back up the assertion.
Neither Tenney nor Deneen responded to the additional questions.
The "Soros-backed" trope appears to be a GOP talking point in defense of Trump, and Soros responded to it, stating, "As for Alvin Bragg, as a matter of fact, I did not contribute to his campaign, and I don’t know him."
Writing for the Spectator, Oliver Wiseman said the GOP may be side-stepping the charges against Trump with the phrase "Soros-backed," but it isn't completely without relevance.
"There’s nothing far-fetched or conspiratorial about calling Bragg Soros-backed. Soros gave $1 million to the Color of Change PAC, which backed Bragg’s election. Soros’s son, Jonathan, gave directly to Bragg, as did his wife. And Soros has been a vocal supporter of progressive prosecutors like Bragg around the country. It may be a deflection for Republicans to talk about Bragg’s ties to Soros, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist."
Here is the full press release from Friday:
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today released the following statement in response to the indictment of former President Donald Trump:
"Soros-backed District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s witch-hunt targeting President Donald Trump is a political persecution with purely malicious intent,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “Bragg has repeatedly allowed violent criminals to walk the streets, downgrading 52% of felony charges to misdemeanors. Yet now he has decided to spend precious taxpayer dollars and resources on this outrageous case against Donald Trump, and only after he announced he was running for president. Every American should be concerned about this gross abuse of power and the politicized two-tiered system of justice we now have in America. I once again call on Governor Kathy Hochul to act. Uphold the rule of law and remove Alvin Bragg from office for, among other things, his failure to enforce the law and his blatant politicization of the criminal justice system. ”
Photo: File photo of Claudia Tenney by Howard Owens.
