GOP Leans Into George Soros Conspiracies In Targeting Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg

Topline

Republicans decrying Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into former President Donald Trump as a politically motivated stunt have sought to exploit the Democratic prosecutor’s links to billionaire George Soros, who for years has been the subject of conspiracies that tie his philanthropic ventures to issues demonized by the right.

Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros answers to questions after delivering a … [+] speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 24, 2022. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

GOP lawmakers, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), are among the Republicans who have claimed that Bragg took millions of dollars from Soros, while criticizing Bragg’s investigation into hush-money payments made on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has also mentioned Soros in criticizing Bragg’s investigation, calling him “a highly controversial, George Soros backed District Attorney” and claiming he “received in EXCESS OF ONE MILLION DOLLARS” from Soros in a series of Truth Social posts this week.

The Republican criticism appears to hinge on a $1 million donation Soros made to the Color of Change PAC that supported Bragg’s 2021 campaign, CNBC reported, along with a $7 million donation the Open Society Policy Center, a nonprofit affiliated with Soros’ Open Society Foundation, gave to Color of Change’s 501(c)(4).

Color of Change, which bills itself as the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, spent about $500,000 to support Bragg’s campaign, but an official told CNBC the money Soros gave the group was not intended to directly fund Bragg or influence his prosecutorial decisions.

While Soros did not make any direct contributions to Bragg’s campaign, his son Jonathan and daughter-in-law Jennifer gave more than $20,000 combined to Bragg’s 2021 campaign, according to New York State Board of Elections.

Chief Critic

Soros’ spokesperson Michael Vachon told the Associated Press that he “has made numerous contributions in support of reform-minded prosecutors,” like Bragg, who has implemented policies to reduce incarceration rates and prosecution of low-level offenses. Soros expressed his support for criminal justice reforms in a 2018 Wall Street Journal column, where he advocated for more preventive measures and mental-health resources and argued there is no correlation between prosecutorial reform and a rise in crime.

Key Background

Soros, a billionaire philanthropist who routinely donates millions of dollars to Democratic candidates, has been accused by right-wing conspiracists of orchestrating everything from protests against the police killing of George Floyd and the national anthem in the NFL to the funding of Central American migrant caravans in 2018 and demonstrations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. Jewish organizations have pointed out that the unfounded claims surrounding Soros, who is a Hungarian-born Jewish Holocaust survivor, are steeped in the antisemitic trope that Jewish people are behind a shadow campaign to influence society and world order. “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,” the Jewish advocacy organization, the Anti-Defamation League, wrote about the Soros conspiracies.

Tangent

Color of Change pressed Bragg to drop a case last year against Tracy McCarter, who was charged with murdering her estranged husband, arguing that she was acting in self-defense. Bragg put the case on ice in November, citing doubts that the evidence proved McCarter stabbed her estranged husband with the intent to kill. A Color of Change official told CNBC that money the Open Society Policy Center gave the group’s 501(c)(4) was not geared toward this specific campaign.

What To Watch For

The Manhattan grand jury weighing evidence in Bragg’s investigation into Trump could vote to indict the former president as early as Thursday, after a grand jury proceeding scheduled for Wednesday was put on hold. Bragg’s case centers around a $130,000 payment Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign in exchange for her silence about their alleged 2006 affair. Prosecutors are reportedly probing whether Trump played a role in creating fake business records that specified the payments Cohen made—which were reimbursed by the Trump Organization—were for legal fees.