Donald Trump, frustrated since 2019 with New York Attorney General Letitia James, has intensified his attacks, now attempting to initiate a Department of Justice investigation into her real estate dealings. Allegations fueled by Trump's supporters suggest James submitted false mortgage documents. In response, James has retained attorney Abbe Lowell to counter these claims, describing them as baseless. Despite the serious undertone of the criminal referral lodged against her, the practical implications remain uncertain, with lawyers wary of the political dynamics at play.
The only surprise is that it has taken this long for Donald Trump to seek revenge against Letitia James. The president has been mad at New York State's attorney general since at least 2019, when Trump accused her of 'harassing all of my New York businesses.' Yet it wasn't until last week that Trump moved to try to actually damage James, cheering on a possible investigation by his Department of Justice into her real estate transactions.
In recent days, she fortified her defenses considerably by hiring high-powered lawyer Abbe Lowell, who on Thursday sent US attorney general Pam Bondi a blistering six-page letter, with 20-plus pages of attachments, assailing the 'stunning hypocrisy' of Trump's 'latest act of improper political retribution.'
James, in an interview with NY1, dismissed the accusations as 'baseless.' Yet, the oddest and potentially most problematic item is a 2023 notarized power of attorney form, signed by James, on which she attested that Virginia would be her primary residenceâeven as she held office in New York.
The ominous-sounding term criminal referral carries little practical weight: Bondi has no obligation to launch an investigation, and lawyers are reluctant to offer opinions given the complexity of legal vulnerabilities involved.
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