Alvin Bragg Hit With New Legal Complaint

A legal activist group led by an ex-adviser to former President Donald Trump is accusing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office of engaging in “racial and sex discrimination.”

America First Legal (AFL), led by former longtime Trump adviser Stephen Miller, announced in a press release on Thursday that it had filed federal and state complaints claiming that the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) hiring policies of Bragg’s office are illegal, alleging they discriminate against white men and Asian people.

The group speculates in the release that a section of the Manhattan D.A.’s website touting a DEI commitment to “build a diverse workforce” is meant “to enforce its quota system and screen out white, male, or Asian candidates,” alleging that “Bragg’s Office collects race, ethnicity, and even sexual orientation data on its employment applications.”

“Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a state law complaint with the New York Department of Labor against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for alleged racial and sex discrimination in hiring and recruitment in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and of the New York State Human Rights Law,” the release states.

“Bragg’s self-described recruitment, hiring, and promotion practices and quotas violate our nondiscrimination laws,” in continues. “Therefore, the EEOC and the New York Human Rights Division have ample reason to act. AFL will continue fighting to protect our citizens’ rights and to preserve the rule of law.”

Bragg is best known for his recent successful prosecution of Trump, who became the first president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime last when a New York City jury last week found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal potential politically damaging 2016 hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

America First Legal Senior Vice President Reed D. Rubinstein said in a statement included in Thursday’s release that Bragg’s commitment to DEI practices, which are common in corporate and government hiring but have recently become controversial due to conservative backlash, was evidence of his “political agenda.”

“Alvin Bragg has demonstrated beyond all doubt that he will disregard the law and abuse his authority to advance a political agenda,” Rubinstein said. “His practice of recruiting, hiring, and promoting workers based on their race, sex, or national origin is obnoxious, immoral, and illegal.”

“The EEOC and the New York Human Rights Division were created to stop Bragg and others like him from illegally discriminating against Americans; based on the facts, they should act to protect equality and the rule of law,” he added.

Newsweek reached out for comment to Bragg’s office via email on Thursday night.

Miller, who is not a lawyer, founded AFL in 2021 with the goal of advancing Trump’s agenda and combating perceived enemies of the right that include so-called “woke corporations,” “the fake news media” and “liberal Washington politicians.”

The actions against Bragg’s office were far from the first civil rights complaints that the group has filed based on claims that DEI practices are discriminatory, with similar complaints having been launched against companies that include Tyson Foods, Macy’s and Anheuser-Busch.