Democrat Robert Holden defiant after testifying at GOP crime hearing

New York City Council Member Robert Holden doesn’t care if New Yorkers think he was playing into House Republicans’ hands by testifying at Monday’s Judiciary Committee hearing on violent crime in Manhattan – held in retaliation for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charging former President Donald Trump. Holden is a registered Democrat, and partisan outlets like Breitbart loved to highlight that even a member of Bragg’s own party would come to criticize him – nevermind that Holden represents Queens, and has run on the Republican line his last two elections. 

“I don’t care anything about Trump, I don’t care anything about the politics of it. I care about maintaining the quality of life,” Holden told City & State in a phone call after the four-hour hearing. Holden said he didn’t believe the hearing was retaliatory, but he does think “Alvin Bragg should be removed. And that's why I was there. Because he's hurting the quality of life and the safety of New Yorkers.” 

Holden seemed to play up the city’s currently elevated crime levels, testifying that even as he lived through “bad times, high crime, 2,000 murders a year in the ‘80s, I have not seen the lawlessness that I’m seeing today in New York City.” That clip got more than 135,000 views on the Judiciary Committee Republicans’ Twitter, as of 6 p.m.

Had Holden gotten any pushback yet from his fellow Democrats in the Council? City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Majority Leader Keith Powers and a spokesperson for the Progressive Caucus all did not respond to a request for comment. 

“Pushback means nothing to me from politicians,” Holden said. “Are you kidding? That doesn’t faze me one iota.”