New York GOP lawmaker: AOC, Bernie want to bring bad' policies like bail reform to federal level

Liberal lawmakers are making it easier for criminals, illegal immigrants, and gang members to commit crimes by administering policies like the newly-implemented bail reform laws, New York State Assemblywoman and G.O.P. congressional candidate Nicole Malliotakis said Friday.

Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with host Brian Kilmeade, Malliotakis said that while President Trump is doing everything he can to stop dangerous gangs like MS-13, Malliotakis warns that, nationally, Americans should be concerned about these "very bad" justice laws "because people like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- they said they support doing something like this in the federal level." 

NEW YORK MAN ATTACKED BY MS-13, WHO WAS SET TO TESTIFY AGAINST THEM, FOUND DEAD

Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez, a key witness who was set to testify against MS-13 gang members who attacked him in 2018, was killed just days before a trial on Long Island. Rodriguez, 36, was found Sunday outside an abandoned home in New Cassel. Police say associates of MS-13 were behind Rodriguez's slaying. 

Investigators said in October of 2018 Rodriguez came to the defense of two boys who were being threatened by the gang — only to be beaten with a bat and stabbed, according to Newsday.

Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said prosecutors tried to keep Rodriguez’s identity secret by obtaining a protective order in December 2018.

But last December, ahead of looming changes to New York’s criminal justice system, including reforming the pre-trial discovery phase – during which prosecutors reveal evidence to the defense for preparation – the judge in the case issued a new order.

It allowed "for the disclosure of the protected information to defense counsel," Newsday reports. The judge’s order, however, still required attorneys for two defendants not to reveal Rodriguez' s name to their clients until the trial’s start date of Jan. 6.

A local police commissioner, Patrick Ryder, initially blamed the state's bail reform laws. Later, he conceded that Rodriguez's death had "no direct link" to the new criminal justice reform, recanting his framing of the case.

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"What this new bail law does is require that witness information and their personal information be handed over to the defense within 15 days of an arrest," Malliotakis explained. "So, obviously, that is something that will lead to witness intimidation. It will lead to witness tampering. It will lead to, perhaps, witnesses being killed or bullied or beaten and that is really something that undermines the justice system." 

"So, there [are] going to be issues here, whether it be witness protection issues or whether it be not being able to turn over that evidence and these cases being dismissed that completely undermines the justice system," she told Kilmeade. 

Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.