New York state attorney general Letitia James sent out this statement on the news that she has been indicted by a federal grand jury for bank fraud after one of Trump’s US attorneys, Lindsey Halligan, personally presented the case to the grand jury.
She also posted a video of her statement on X:
“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General.
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost. The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.
“His decision to fire a United States Attorney who refused to bring charges against me – and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president – is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice.
“I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization. We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence – not politics. Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud.
“I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today I am not fearful, I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job.”
New York governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has also made a statement in support of New York attorney general Letitia James, accusing Trump of weaponizing his Justice Department who “punish those who hold the powerful accountable.”
The American Civil Liberties Union is calling the Trump Justice Department’s indictment of New York attorney general Letitia James “the latest in a long list of brazen abuses of power by President Trump” and a “stunning violation.”
“He has continued to weaponize our nation’s judicial system to settle personal vendettas, attack his political opponents, and silence his critics,” the ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
“President Trump’s open interference in the Department of Justice’s investigation – demanding charges, forcing out the prosecutor, and installing a loyalist – is a stunning violation of our country’s long tradition of an independent judicial system. The indictment of Letitia James makes it clearer than ever that President Trump has prioritized retaliation over the rule of law.
“Whether it’s targeting Jimmy Kimmel, James Comey, Letitia James, or the millions of everyday people exercising their rights to free speech, this administration’s efforts to prosecute, bully, and intimidate will only strengthen the People’s resolve to exercise our freedoms and defend our democracy.”
New York state attorney general Letitia James sent out this statement on the news that she has been indicted by a federal grand jury for bank fraud after one of Trump’s US attorneys, Lindsey Halligan, personally presented the case to the grand jury.
She also posted a video of her statement on X:
“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General.
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost. The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.
“His decision to fire a United States Attorney who refused to bring charges against me – and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president – is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice.
“I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization. We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence – not politics. Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud.
“I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today I am not fearful, I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job.”
Letitia James fixated on Donald Trump as she campaigned for New York attorney general, branding the then-president a “con man” and ″carnival barker” and pledging to shine a “bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings,” the Associated Press reported in 2023.
That year, James appeared to be on the verged of disrupting Trump’s real estate empire after a judge ruled Tuesday that he defrauded banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the value of assets on paperwork used for deals and securing loans.
Her civil fraud lawsuit against Trump was not her only legal battle against a powerful and prominent opponent:
In 2021, James oversaw an investigation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who had been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment. The inquiry led to a remarkable downfall for the once-rising star in the Democratic party. Lawyers hired by James concluded that 11 women were telling the truth when they said Cuomo touched them inappropriately, commented on their appearance or made suggestive comments about their sex lives. Cuomo alleged that James used the investigation to further her own political aspirations.
James also led a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association in a case that accuses its leaders of financial mismanagement, which led to the resignation of powerful NRA leader Wayne LaPierre
Video made public in 2023 showed Donald Trump personally answering questions from New York attorney general Letitia James in the civil fraud case she brought against him, and pleading the fifth more than 400 times.
Now, James, one of the attorneys who succeeded in holding Trump legally accountable for his behavior, has been indicted for bank fraud by a federal grand jury, in what appears to be president’s latest effort to weaponize the federal Department of Justice to punish his political rivals.
Here’s more background on Letitia James, the New York state attorney general who went after Trump, and has now been indicted by Trump administration-appointed federal prosecutors.
James filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump in 2022, which alleged that he inflated his net worth by billions of dollars on his financial statements and habitually misled banks and others about the value of prized assets, including golf courses, hotels, the Trump Tower skyscraper in Manhattan and his Mar-a-Lago estate in south Florida.
In 2024, she won what she called a “tremendous victory” in the case, saying “Donald Trump is finally facing accountability for his lying, cheating and staggering fraud. Because no matter how big, rich or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.”
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last year that James had proved Trump engaged in a years-long conspiracy with executives at his company to deceive banks and insurers.
Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355m – payback of what the judge deemed “ill-gotten gains” from his puffed-up financial statements. That amount soared to more than $515m, including interest, by the time an appellate court ruled this year that the judgment was “excessive.”
Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday night that Israel and Hamas had agreed the first phase of a new ceasefire deal in Gaza. We’ve been here before, but is it different this time? Has Trump proved the doubters wrong?
Jonathan Freedland speaks to Julian Borger about the prospect for peace in the Middle East and the US president’s role in getting to this point
The president also confirmed that he’ll head to the Middle East “sometime Sunday”.
“Everybody I see is celebrating in Israel, but they’re celebrating in many other countries too. A lot of the Muslim and Arab countries, they’re celebrating,” he added.
In response to a reporter’s question, Donald Trump also said that no one would be forced to leave Gaza as it’s being rebuilt. “It’s just the opposite. This is a great plan. This is a great peace plan,” he said. “We’re not looking to do that at all.”
The president has called out Spain for not paying five per cent on defense spending that Donald Trump has urged.
Spain is currently the only Nato member who has refused to pay more of its GDP on defense.
“We had one laggard. It was Spain,” Trump said. “You have to call them and find why are they a laggard … they have no excuse not to do this. But that’s all right, maybe you should throw them Nato.”
Trump said that he thought that brokering an end to the war in Ukraine would have been “one of the easier ones”, but is confident that a ceasefire will be on the horizon “hopefully soon”.
“I think Russia is actually right now, both economically and militarily, not in a very strong place,” Stubb added, praising Donald Trump for pushing European allies to boycott sales of Russian oil and gas.
Donald Trump and Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, are meeting now in the Oval Office. Stubb congratulated Trump on the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
If someone would have said a few weeks back that you and your team are able to push us to a position where there will be a cease fire, an exchange of prisoners, hostages, and then a pullback, I would not have believed it, but it’s this is what diplomacy is at its best.
The Senate has rejected, for the seventh time, a House-passed bill to keep the government funded until 21 November – leaving no end in sight for shutdown as it enters its ninth day. The continuing resolution failed to pass the 60-vote threshold to advance. The upper chamber also failed to pass a Democratic alternative, replete with several health care provisions. Congressional lawmakers from both sides of the aisle continue to trade barbs, blaming the other party for the lapse in government funding.
At his eight cabinet meeting, Donald Trump took a victory lap following the agreement of the first phase of a ceasefire deal by Israel and Hamas. The meeting lasted just over an hour, and the president said that the Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt. Trump also said that he had agreed to speak at the Knesset on his upcoming trip to the Middle East.
Two federal courts heard arguments over the Trump administration’s deployment of national guard troops to Democratic-run cities. A three-panel judge on the ninth circuit court of appeals wrapped a hearing to decide whether to allow the president’s deployment of national guard troops to Portland, Oregon. Last week a lower court judge blocked the administration from federalizing troops. Meanwhile, in Chicago, April Perry, a district court judge, held a hearing in a very similar case, after protests erupted outside immigration facilities throughout the city and Trump deployed hundreds of national guard officers from Illinois and Texas to Chicago. After closing arguments, Perry asked lawyers to be back at the court in a few hours.
Meanwhile, Trump’s homeland security secretary said that the department is buying buildings in Chicago and Portland where agents can operate. “We’re going to not back off,” Kristi Noem said at today’s cabinet meeting. “In fact, we’re doubling down, and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there.”
The president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, has arrived at the White House. Donald Trump will hold a bilateral meeting with the Finnish leader shortly.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
