New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) made waves before she was officially sworn in, but those waves (as predicted) appear to be crashing down on her. Recall that James was not in the least bit indirect about her intentions regarding the Trump family one she became AG.
“We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well,” she said in an interview with NBC News. “We want to investigate anyone in his orbit who has, in fact, violated the law.”
“Donald Trump’s days of defrauding Americans are coming to an end,” she would add. “We can spot a carnival barker.”
“I will shine a light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings, and every dealing,” she said. As Law&Crime’s Ronn Blitzer reported just before the calendar turned to 2019, concerns were expressed that these comments by James were basically a template in how to create grounds for a selective prosecution case. Those fears are now being validated.
Attorneys for the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which agreed to dissolve in December, are now highlighting James’ anti-Trump commentary to their advantage.
“Newly elected New York Attorney General Letitia James ran on an anti-Trump campaign where she expressed grave antipathy and animus toward Mr. Trump,” they said, according to CNN. “Attorney General James has referred to President Trump as an ‘illegitimate President’ […] and has vowed to ‘use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well.'”
Trump Foundation attorneys say “politically motivated claims for equitable and injunctive relief are unwarranted on the facts and the law.”
This was their full comment on James, as seen in a Friday court filing:
The Petition is barred in that it is the product of the Attorney General’s animus and bias against President Donald J. Trump and it was filed for improper, biased and political reasons. The factual allegations of bias, and the legal basis therefore, contained in the Futerfas Affirmation at paragraphs 20 – 28, dated August 30, 2018, and in the Dillon Affidavit at paragraphs 4 – 13, dated August 29, 2018, and in the Memorandum of Law, Point Four, filed on August 30, 2018, are re-alleged and incorporated herein in their entirety. In addition, Respondents aver the following additional facts arising subsequent to the facts previously alleged: Newly elected New York Attorney General Letitia James ran on an anti-Trump campaign where she expressed grave antipathy and animus toward Mr. Trump. Attorney General James has referred to President Trump as an “illegitimate President” and has vowed to “use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well.” Statements by the former two, and the current, New York Attorney General, express clear bias and animus and constitute an unlawful appearance of impropriety.
[Image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images]