NY AG Letitia James Targeted In Federal Probe Sparked By Trump Ally

New York Attorney General Letitia James has emerged as a strident critic of the Trump administration.

Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James following allegations contained in a referral from the Trump administration that she be investigated for potentially falsifying paperwork regarding properties that she owns in Virginia and New York, sources familiar with the matter revealed to The Guardian.

Per their reporting, the investigation marks a significant shift toward retaliation against James, whose pursuit of charges against Donald Trump ended in more than $450 million in penalties for him after he was found guilty of inflating his net worth to secure financial benefits.

According to their sources, the status of the investigation seems to be in its early stages as prosecutors have designated a federal grand jury to hear evidence in the Eastern District of Virginia, following the recommendation from William Pulte for the Justice Department to bring charges against James in April.

As Reuters reports, James has emerged as a strident critic of the Trump administration’s clashes with the judicial branch and has joined other Democratic attorneys general in mounting legal challenges to Trump’s orders regarding election overhauls, cuts to education, health, and numerous moves, including the targeting of judges and law firms.

Notably, the criminal referral contains the same allegations raised by Trump allies online that in 2023, James potentially committed fraud by making a house in Norfolk, Virginia, a home she was helping a relative to buy, as her primary residence while James was the attorney general of New York.

Whether or not the allegations raised by the investigation will stick is yet to be determined, but what is accomplished by this investigation, regardless of the veracity of the claims from the Trump administration, is showcasing that it is willing to go after Trump’s adversaries using the weight of the federal government’s legal system.

Per USA Today, Trump, of course, couldn’t resist attacking James when given the opportunity during his May 6 media availability, saying that James is a “disaster for New York” and a “horrible, horrible human being” as well as a “total crook.”

He continued, “That’s just my opinion. Pam is going to have to do what she wants. She’s a very bad person. She’s a very, very bad, a very bad person who campaigned solely on, I’m going to get Donald Trump, over and over again.”

James has responded to the allegations. On May 8, two days after Trump’s statement, the referral for James to be charged was brought by Pulte.

James has referred to the allegations from the Trump administration as falsehoods and characterized the allegations as politically motivated retribution. In a letter she sent to the Justice Department in April, James said that the director made a cherry-picked argument in his recommendation.

“Director Pulte cherry-picked an August 17, 2023, power of attorney that mistakenly stated the property to be Ms James’ principal residence,” James’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote in the letter. “The broker understood this, and that Ms James was not a Virginia resident.”

Lowell explained their view of the allegations to The Guardian, “This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch. If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.”