‘Flagrantly Unconstitutional’: Letitia James Slams DOJ’s Political Prosecution, Asks Judge to Toss Charges

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss the felony charges against her, arguing that President Donald Trump and his political appointees at the Department of Justice (DOJ) are selectively and vindictively prosecuting her. 

In her dismissal motion, James laid out a broad range of actions and statements from Trump and top DOJ officials that she argues indicate the DOJ is pursuing charges against her because of the president’s “genuine animus” toward her.

Among the many examples, James highlighted that during a 2022 rally, Trump called her a “disgusting human being,” a “crazy radical leftist nut job” and said “[s]he deserves to be removed from office, immediately disbarred and banished from the legal profession forever.”

“The President’s and his allies’ own words and actions reveal the throughline between their animus and AG James’ exercise of her protected statutory and constitutional rights and establish the unconstitutional motivation underlying the prosecution,” James’ motion reads.

Trump has long vowed to get revenge on James, who won a multi-million dollar judgment against the Trump Organization and whose office has challenged several aspects of his political agenda over the years.

Earlier this year, the president publicly directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after James and other perceived enemies more aggressively. 

Weeks after Trump’s order, Lindsay Halligan, one of Trump’s former personal lawyers turned acting U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, indicted James on two counts of bank fraud and false statements.

Trump installed Halligan as interim U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia after he forced the previous acting U.S. attorney out of the role for raising concerns about the district’s cases against James and former FBI Director James Comey. 

Like James, the former FBI chief also filed a dismissal complaint alleging selective and vindictive prosecution.

The mortgage-related charges against James stem from a home purchase in Norfolk, Virginia. The investigation into the purchase was initiated by allegations from Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and one of Trump’s favored political attack dogs, based on preliminary loan documents he obtained.

In her motion to dismiss, James noted that several Republican officials, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, have been accused of committing roughly the same crime she’s alleged to have broken, but the DOJ has not pursued charges against them.

“The only meaningful difference between AG James and these individuals is that AG James is a Democratic Attorney General who spoke out against the President, while the others are his allies and cabinet members,” her dismissal reads.

This story has been updated with new details thoughout.