Following months of President Donald Trump’s campaign to take down New York Attorney General Letitia James, she has officially been indicted on federal charges. The AG is one of many Democrats Trump has vowed to ruin, but unlucky for him, James said she’s not going down without a fight.
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News of her Thursday (Oct. 9) indictment didn’t come as a shock to anyone paying attention to the tense “will they, won’t they” battle between the Democrat and Trump. The president is of course celebrating the indictment as a win, as he’s been gunning for her job ever since James sued him, winning over $500 million (interest included), the Hill reported. An appeal ruling later threw out the 2024 penalty, but still, James has been on the president’s radar.
The top federal prosecutor in James’ case is Lindsey Halligan, a former beauty pageant queen and loyal Trump aide. Last month, she brought charges against former FBI Director James Comey– another Trump adversary– for obstruction and allegedly making a false statement to Congress. He pled not guilty.
James’ indictment represents the second attempted takedown of a Trump-proclaimed foe. She took to social media responding to the indictment, calling it “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
She added, “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.”
The indictment accuses her of lying about a property mortgage from 2020. Trump’s allies claimed James promised the property would be a second home, but instead, she’s allegedly been renting it out, according to NPR. Prosecutors accused the AG of benefiting off of “ill-gotten gains” and deceiving the American people.
This scandal came on the back of Trump’s continuously taunting James. In 2024, the president called for her to “be arrested and punished accordingly.” She’s now charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, BBC reported.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris responded to the indictment, insisting the charges are baseless. “The attorney general of the state of New York has been indicted when a previous prosecutor who probably did not vote for her or me said there was not enough evidence,” she told an audience during her book tour.
Both Democrats and Republicans criticized Trump pressing for recent indictments of James and Comey. Notably, Ala. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said on X, “The Department of Justice has long been insulated from presidential administrations to protect public trust in the rule of law.”
The Republican continued, “that independence is called into question when overt political pressure from the White House leads to unusual personnel changes and criminal charges filed just days after the President calls for them.”
Trump loyalist Halligan has been criticized for being under-qualified in her role as top federal prosecutor, the Guardian reported. Before being appointed, she had no prosecutorial experience and was only tapped when previous attorneys refused to bring forth charges against James and Comey.
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