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Alvin Bragg, Manhattan's district attorney, draws friends close and critics closer

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2024

Alvin Bragg, Manhattan's district attorney, draws friends close and critics closer

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference following the arraignment of former U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City on April 4, 2023.

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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference following the arraignment of former U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City on April 4, 2023.

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Observers, friends and former colleagues view Alvin Bragg Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, as a smart, deliberate lawyer and a selfless public servant. And people who claim him as their friend say he’s a thoughtful one.

Those who spoke to NPR, who know Bragg well or watch him closely, say he is neither moved nor driven by politics. Bragg declined to speak for this story.

Attorney Anurima Bhargava has been friends with Bragg since they were undergrads at Harvard University, where Bragg also earned his law degree.

“One of the things that is so intensely remarkable,” she says, “is that he’s had friends, and colleagues, and people he grew up with, and he’s stayed close to all of us.”

Bhargava leads Anthem of Us, a consulting firm. She says Bragg finds ways to stay connected.

“This year, I had a movie premiere,” she says. “He was working, but he showed up in the back, and made sure I knew that he was in the room. And that’s the kind of stuff that, like, even if it’s for 10 minutes, it means something.”

Attorney Anurima Bhargava has been a friend of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg since they attended Harvard University in the 1990’s. She says his presence had always made her feel and supported.

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Bragg was featured in Harvard’s student newspaper, The Crimson, in a 1995 article. He was described as “empathetic” and gregarious.”

“Alvin is always the person to go and start a conversation,” Bhargava says, and adds, he was at the center of difficult campus conversations, and someone who defied stereotypes as an actively listener, even with people he just met. Bhargava says whether at a committee meeting or a party, Bragg was a warm, welcoming presence.

“If Alvin was in the room, like, I always felt really safe and supported,” Bhargava says. “I felt like there was someone in the room who would always have my back.”

Alvin Bragg is now at the center of the first-ever criminal trial of a former American president.

The Manhattan district attorney now oversees a team of six prosecutors trying the case against Donald Trump. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Last year, the former president was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Bragg then held a news conference.

“Under New York State law, it is a felony to falsify business records with the intent to conceal another crime,” Bragg said. “That is exactly what this case is about.”

Jury selection is expected to be complete by the end of the week. Opening arguments could happen as early as Monday. Donald Trump faces a penalty of up to four years in prison.

The former president has claimed Bragg’s prosecution to be politically motivated. Trump’s defense attorneys have filed and failed to have the case delayed or dismissed. The presiding judge, Juan Merchan, has denied all those motions.

Some view the case as a distraction, compared to three other criminal cases pending against Trump, where prosecutors allege his actions present far more serious threats to democracy.

Terri Gerstein worked with Alvin Bragg in the New York Attorney General’s office. He is smart and a careful lawyer, she says. Gerstein is now a director at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

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Terri Gerstein recalls Alvin Bragg as thoughtful and detail-oriented. “He’s one of the smartest people that I’ve known,” she says. “I know how careful he is as a lawyer.”

Bragg supervised Gerstein in the New York Attorney General’s office, where she was labor bureau chief.

“He would carefully read all of the pleadings or briefs or memos that we were writing. And look up the cases himself and, like, really, really delve into them,” she says.

Gerstein now is a director at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU. She remembers working on a couple of wage theft cases where home care aides went unpaid, caring for older patients and people with disabilities.

“That case really touched a nerve with him,” she says. “That people would be doing this kind of work, and that someone would take advantage of them in that way.”

The employers pleaded guilty in both cases.

Before he was elected Manhattan district attorney, Bragg was steeped in prosecuting white collar crime and public corruption cases working for both the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the New York Attorney General.

He grew up as a son of Harlem

Alvin Bragg Jr. attended Trinity, a private K-12 college prep school. He was nurtured in a storied section of Harlem called Strivers’ Row. His mother, Sadie, taught high school math and later was vice president at Borough of Manhattan Community College. His father, Alvin Sr., headed the local Urban League for several years. He retired as the city’s director of homeless shelters. Bragg’s parents wanted their only child to be open and experience all kinds of people.

Bragg worshiped at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem as a child, and still does now with his wife and children. He teaches Sunday school there. In 2021, the late pastor Calvin Butts III introduced candidate Bragg during a Sunday service as “a son of Harlem.” Rev. Butts gave Bragg a few moments to make his pitch to potential voters.

“I had a gun pointed at me six times, three by the NYPD during lawless stops, and three by people who were not police officers,” Bragg told the congregation.

“After the first gunpoint stop by the NYPD, I saw our pastor, Reverend Butts, and he guided me through how to file a civilian complaint. That was the beginning of my advocacy.” He was a high school student at the time.

Bragg campaigned and won on his lived experience, and became the first black person elected Manhattan district attorney.

Jelani Cobb has covered Bragg as a staff writer for The New Yorker.

Jelani Cobb, a staff writer for The New Yorker, observes progressive district attorneys like Bragg must balance their ability to make reform in the system with the public’s perception of its safety.

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“Alvin Bragg is somebody who grew up in Harlem at the time that ‘stop and frisk’ was just a part of life,” Cobb says. “The Central Park Five are now kind of a stand-in for that whole era of policing.”

“And so, it means a lot,” says Cobb, who is also dean at Columbia University’s Journalism School. “That there’s somebody who has experienced both sides of the ledger, serving as a prosecutor, but also witnessing some of the areas in which the system has gone wrong.”

Bragg seeks to strike a balance between public safety and reform

D.A. Bragg declared prosecuting violent crime his top priority. He has also advocated for alternatives to jail when appropriate, and dropped prosecutions for low-level offenses.

Tina Luongo says Bragg has put people in high places of his administration who “think outside the box” in terms of reform. Tina Luongo heads criminal defense practice for the Legal Aid Society, the city’s primary source for public defenders. They were familiar with Bragg for many years and aware of his reform efforts when he worked in the New York Attorney General’s office.

Bragg is different from his predecessors, Luongo says.

Legal Aid Chief Attorney Tina Luongo says Alvin Bragg is an attentive listener. “He may or may not agree with my position, but he hears me out,” she says. She is shown speaking at a rally to protest the 17th death on Rikers Island at City Hall in New York City in 2022.

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“I do believe that if I pick up a phone and I call Alvin and I complain about something, he’s listening,” Loungo says. “And he may or may not agree with my position, but he hears me out.”

Some of Bragg’s reforms, intended to reduce recidivism, draw criticism from conservative media who accuse Bragg of being “soft on crime.”

Jelani Cobb says Bragg works in a dynamic space where challenging the status quo on law and order issues can be tricky.

“For progressive prosecutors in general, I would say him included, their ability to make reform in the system is always counterbalanced by the public’s perception of its safety,” says Cobb.

A call for new ideas invites critics

Former prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo was second in command to Cy Vance, the last Manhattan district attorney. “It really is a time in our history for a person of color to be the district attorney,” she says. Friedman says she decided not to run for the office after Vance declined a fourth bid.

She says “fresh, new ideas” are needed to solve recidivism, because “the old ways” or patterns of prosecution and incarceration are not working.

“I’ve never worked with him, but he’s doing a really good job,” she says.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo was former Chief Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. Every new district attorney has missteps in the beginning, she says.

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Karen Friedman Agnifilo was former Chief Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. Every new district attorney has missteps in the beginning, she says.

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Bragg stumbled early on with the release of the Day One Memo, a document that outlined policy shifts for bail and sentencing, among other changes. It was sent office-wide via email, without any discussion.

“It didn’t go well at all,” says Catherine Christian, a veteran Assistant District Attorney who worked for three decades in the office before becoming a law partner in private practice.

Catherine Christian, a former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and currently in private practice, believes Alvin Bragg is someone who learns from his mistakes.

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Christian, who left seven months into Bragg’s term, says he recovered after a long period of chaos and found his footing after about a year. “I think he’s someone who’s willing to learn, and learns from mistakes. And listens,” she says.

Only a few weeks in office, Bragg had another set of challenges.

Bragg reportedly questioned the lead prosecutors, Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, in several meetings. He’d stopped their team from presenting evidence against Donald Trump to a grand jury in a criminal probe into Trump’s involvement in fraud for overvaluing his assets. (New York Attorney General Letitia James later successfully pursued a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization, largely along the same lines of evidence pursued by Mark Pomerantz, and it resulted in a $454 million penalty against Trump.)

Bragg had doubts about moving forward, and both Pomerantz and Dunne resigned in protest a month later. In March 2023, Bragg empaneled a new grand jury that voted to indict Trump.

“I know that there were a few missteps in the beginning, and growing pains,” Karen Friedman Agnifilo says. “But I think he’s maturing really nicely.”

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is staffed by more than 1,500 people. The work ranges from prosecuting white collar crime to human trafficking to street crime to addressing needs of survivors, exonerating wrongful convictions police misconduct, and returning of stolen antiquities.

In January 2023, a New York state court ordered the Trump Organization to pay fines totaling 1.6 million in a tax fraud case. D.A. Bragg’s office successfully won that prosecution.

Bragg may be seen as maturing in his job, but he continues to be tested by cases and critics. Earlier this year, several migrants allegedly attacked police officers in Times Square. At the hearing, prosecutors did not request bail, due to a lack of evidence at the time. The suspected attackers were set free, and Bragg took heat for his handling of the case from politicians and others.

“Why are these four individuals released on their own recognizance?” Patrick Hendry asked during a news conference. Hendry is president of the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the city’s largest police union. “Why aren’t they in jail right now?”

Prosecutors did a thorough investigation. Bragg defended his office.

“We do not tolerate people assaulting police officers,” Bragg told the press. “But in a court of law, our profound obligation is to make sure we have the right people charged with the right crimes.”

Prosecutors filed charges after many days and several suspects were held for trial.

“You’re not allowed to talk about details and facts,” says Karen Friedman Agnifilo. Bragg, like all district attorneys, is confronted by cases where he can’t share information with the public, or respond to critics the way politicians do.

“You’re an officer of the court and the highest law enforcement official, first and foremost,” Agnifilo Friedman says, “and you’re a politician second.”

The unprecedented trial of Donald Trump is a case that Alvin Bragg Jr. doubted, delayed and later revived. Now underway, it will put the Manhattan district attorney to the test.

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Senate Adopts GOP Budget, Laying the Groundwork to Fund ICE and Reopen DHS

Published

6 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Press Room

Senate Adopts GOP Budget, Laying the Groundwork to Fund ICE and Reopen DHS

The Senate early Thursday morning adopted a Republican budget blueprint that would pave the way for a $70 billion increase for immigration enforcement and the eventual reopening of the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans pushed through the plan on a nearly party-line vote of 50 to 48. It came after an overnight marathon of rapid-fire votes, known as a vote-a-rama, in which the G.O.P. beat back a series of Democratic proposals aimed at addressing the high cost of health care, housing, food and energy. The debate put the two parties’ dueling messages on vivid display six months before the midterm elections.

Republicans, who are using the budget plan to lay the groundwork to eventually push through a filibuster-proof bill providing a multiyear funding stream for President Trump’s immigration crackdown, used the all-night session to highlight their hard-line stance on border security, seeking to portray Democrats as unwilling to safeguard the country.

Democrats tried and failed to add a series of changes aimed at addressing cost-of-living issues, seizing the opportunity to hammer Republicans as out of touch with and unwilling to act on the concerns of everyday Americans.

Here’s what to know about the budget plan and the nocturnal ritual senators engaged in before adopting it.

Republicans are seeking a way around a filibuster on D.H.S. funding.

The budget blueprint is a crucial piece of Republicans’ plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security and end a shutdown that has lasted for more than two months. After Democrats refused to fund immigration enforcement without new restrictions on agents’ tactics and conduct, the G.O.P. struck a deal with them to pass a spending bill that would fund everything but ICE and the Border Patrol. Republicans said they would fund those agencies through a special budget bill that Democrats could not block.

“We can fix this with Republican votes, and we will,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the Budget Committee chairman. “Every Democrat has opposed money for the Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great peril.”

In resorting to a new budget blueprint, Republicans laid the groundwork to deny Democrats a chance to stop the immigration enforcement funding. But they also submitted themselves to a vote-a-rama, in which any senator can propose unlimited changes to such a measure before it is adopted.

The budget measure now goes to the House, which must adopt it before lawmakers in both chambers can draft the legislation funding immigration enforcement. That bill will provide yet another opportunity for a vote-a-rama even closer to the November election.

Democrats used the moment to hammer Republicans on affordability.

Democrats took to the floor to criticize Republicans for supercharging funding for federal immigration enforcement rather than moving legislation that would address Americans’ concerns over affordability.

“This is what Republicans are fighting for,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the Democratic leader. “To maintain two unchecked rogue agencies that are dreaded in all corners of this country instead of reducing your health care costs, your housing costs, your grocery costs, your gas costs.”

Democrats offered a host of amendments along those lines, all of which were defeated by Republicans — and that was the point. The proposals were meant to put the G.O.P. in a tough political spot, showcasing their opposition to helping Americans afford high living costs. Fewer than a handful of G.O.P. senators crossed party lines to support them.

Republicans blocked Democrats’ proposals to address high living costs.

The G.O.P. thwarted an effort by Mr. Schumer to require that the budget measure lower out-of-pocket health care costs for Americans. Two Republicans who are up for re-election this year, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, voted with Democrats, but the proposal was still defeated.

Republicans also squelched a move by Senator Ben Ray Lujan, Democrat of New Mexico, to create a fund that would lower grocery costs and reverse cuts to food aid programs that Republicans enacted last year. Ms. Collins and Mr. Sullivan again joined Democrats.

Also defeated by the G.O.P.: a proposal by Senator John Hickenlooper, Democrat of Colorado, to address rising consumer prices brought on by Mr. Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran; one by Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, to require the budget measure to address rising electricity prices, and another by Mr. Markey to create a fund to bring down housing costs.

Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who is up for re-election in Georgia, also sought to add language requiring the budget plan to address health insurance companies denying or delaying access to care, but that, too was blocked by Republicans.

Republicans sought to amplify their hard-line messages on immigration, voter I.D. and transgender care.

While Republicans had fewer proposals for changes to their own budget plan, they also sought to offer measures that would underscore their aggressive stance on immigration enforcement and dare Democrats to vote against them.

Mr. Graham offered an amendment to allocate funds toward a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to the apprehension and deportation of adult immigrants convicted of rape, murder, or sexual abuse of a minor after illegally entering the United States. It passed unanimously.

Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, sought to bar Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion and other services, and criticized the organization for providing transgender care to minors. Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, also attempted to tack on the G.O.P. voter identification bill, known as the SAVE America Act. Both proposals were blocked when Democrats, joined by a few Republicans, voted to strike them as unrelated to the budget plan.

The Republicans who crossed party lines to oppose their own party’s proposals for new voting requirements were Ms. Collins along with Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Ms. Collins and Ms. Murkowski also opposed the effort to block payments to Planned Parenthood.

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Who is John Phelan, the US Navy Secretary fired by Pete Hegseth?

Published

9 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Press Room

Who is John Phelan, the US Navy Secretary fired by Pete Hegseth?

The firing of US Navy Secretary John Phelan is the latest in a shakeup of the American military during the war on Iran, now in its eighth week.

The Pentagon said Phelan would leave office immediately.

Who is John Phelan?

As the US Navy’s top civilian official, Phelan had various responsibilities, including overseeing recruiting, mobilising and organising, as well as construction and repair of ships and military equipment.

He was appointed in 2024 as a political ally of Trump, despite having no prior military or defence leadership experience.

Before entering government, Phelan was a businessman and investment executive, as well as a major Republican donor and fundraiser — a background that is fairly common among Trump appointees and advisers. The US president’s two top diplomatic negotiators, for instance, are Steve Witkoff — a real estate businessman with no prior diplomatic experience – and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

According to the Reuters news agency, Phelan’s tenure quickly became controversial. He faced criticism for moving too slowly on shipbuilding reforms and for strained relationships with key Pentagon figures, including Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg.

rump with U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Michael Borgschulte and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan (R) before the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Army West Point Black Knights at M&T Bank Stadium [File: Tommy Gilligan/Imagn Images/Reuters]

In addition, Phelan was reportedly under an ethics investigation, which may have weakened his standing in the administration.

Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, who was also reported to have a difficult relationship with Phelan, has become acting secretary. Fifty-four-year-old Cao is a 25-year Navy veteran who previously ran as a Republican candidate for the US Senate and House of Representatives in 2022 and 2024 respectively, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Democrats have criticised Phelan’s removal, calling it “troubling”.

“I am concerned it is yet another example of the instability and dysfunction that have come to define the Department of Defense under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth,” said Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Who else has the Trump administration fired since the war with Iran began?

Phelan’s removal is the latest in a series of senior military leaders being fired or are leaving during the US-Israeli war on Iran, in addition to others since Trump was re-elected.

Among the most notable dismissals was Army Chief of Staff General Randy A. George, in the first week of April. George was appointed in 2023 under former US President Joe Biden.

According to reports, Hegseth also fired the head of the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, a unit concerned with modernising the army, and the Army’s chief of chaplains. The Pentagon has not confirmed their dismissal.

Why is Phelan’s dismissal significant?

The 62-year-old’s removal comes during a fragile ceasefire with Iran, as the ⁠⁠US continues to move more naval assets into the region.

The Navy is central to enforcing Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports to restrict Iran’s oil exports and apply economic pressure on Tehran, as the US president looks eager to wrap up the war, which is deeply unpopular to many Americans.

However, there are no indications that Trump is willing to end the blockade or other naval operations in the Strait of Hormuz, as negotiations between Washington and Tehran have come to a standstill.

Tensions have escalated in recent days after the US military seized an Iranian container ship. The US claimed it was attempting to sail from the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

Tehran responded by describing the attack and hijack as an act of “piracy”.

Iran has since captured two cargo ships and fired at another.

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Not a Deal-Breaker: White House Downplays Iranian Action Near the Strait

Published

19 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

Not a Deal-Breaker: White House Downplays Iranian Action Near the Strait

Just two weeks ago, President Trump threatened to wipe out Iran’s civilization if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz. Days later, he said any Iranian “who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”

Yet on Wednesday, after Iran seized two ships near the Strait of Hormuz, the White House was quick to argue the action was not a deal breaker for potential peace negotiations.

“These were not U.S. ships,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said on Fox News. “These were not Israeli ships.” Therefore, she explained, the Iranians had not violated a cease-fire with the United States that Mr. Trump has extended indefinitely.

She cautioned the news media against “blowing this out of proportion.”

The surprisingly tolerant tone from the White House suggests Mr. Trump is not eager to reignite a war that he started alongside Israel on Feb. 28 — a war that has proved unpopular with Americans and has gone on longer than he initially estimated.

The president on Tuesday extended a cease-fire between the United States and Iran that had been set to expire within hours, saying he wanted to give Tehran a chance to come up with a new proposal to end the war.

The American military has displayed its overwhelming might during the war, successfully striking thousands of targets. But it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump will accomplish the political objectives of the war.

The Iranian regime, even after its top leaders were killed, is still intact. Iran has not agreed to Mr. Trump’s demands to turn over its nuclear capabilities to the United States or significantly curtail them. And the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for world commerce that was open before the war, remains closed.

Nevertheless, the White House has repeatedly highlighted the military successes on the battlefield as evidence it is winning the war.

“We have completely confused and obliterated their regime,” Ms. Leavitt said on Fox Wednesday. “They are in a very weak position thanks to the actions taken by President Trump and our great United States armed forces, and so we will continue this important mission on our own.”

The oscillation between threats and a more conciliatory tone has long been one of Mr. Trump’s signature negotiating strategies.

Potential peace talks between the two countries are on hold. Vice President JD Vance had been poised to fly to Islamabad for negotiations. But the trip was postponed until Iran can “come up with a unified proposal,” Mr. Trump said.

The United States recently transmitted a written proposal to the Iranians intended to establish base-line points of agreement that could frame more detailed negotiations. The document covers a broad range of issues, but the core sticking points are the same ones that have bedeviled Western negotiators for more than a decade: the scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment program and the fate of its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Mr. Trump has not spoken publicly about the cease-fire, other than on social media. On Wednesday, he also posted about topics including “my Apprentice Juggernaut” — a reference to his former television show; the Virginia elections, which he called “rigged”; and a new book about Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.