Stand with NY AG Letitia James: Stop the Political Weaponization of Justice
The Issue
Donald Trump has crossed a red line.
He is weaponizing the Department of Justice to punish New York Attorney General Letitia James, a duly elected public servant, for doing her job. These are baseless, politically motivated charges designed to silence and intimidate her.
As AG James has said herself: “This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system… I am not fearful – I am fearless.”
We at the KAIROS Democracy Project are calling on all defenders of democracy to join us in saying: We stand with Tish. We stand with the truth. We stand with justice.
Letitia James has led bold actions against corruption at the highest levels, including against the Trump Organization. Now, Trump is retaliating by forcing the DOJ to do his bidding. He even replaced a U.S. Attorney who refused to bring charges with someone loyal to his political agenda.
This is not just an attack on one woman, it’s an attack on the rule of law, on Black women in leadership, and on all who dare to hold power accountable.
We demand:
That all baseless charges against Attorney General Letitia James be dropped immediately.
That all persons in question who weren't interviewed by the Grand Jury be allowed to present the truth
That Ed Martin at the U.S. Department of Justice be investigated by Congress for misconduct.
AG James is using her legal voice to protect our democracy, expose fraud, and defend the public interest. We must now raise our voices to protect hers.
Join KAIROS Democracy Project and thousands of others demanding an end to this political witch hunt.
Sign your name. Share the petition. Defend democracy.
AMPLIFY AG JAMES’ STATEMENT HERE
Attorney General Letitia James Issues Statement on Donald Trump’s Weaponization of the Department of Justice
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today issued the following statement after she was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s office of the Eastern District of Virginia.
“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.”
Surrogate Talking Points
RED LINE: Donald Trump has crossed a red line that no President has ever dared cross before.
Trump has publicly demanded his DOJ target people he sees as foes. First it was James Comey, now it’s Attorney General Letitia James.
This administration is weaponizing DOJ to punish a statewide, elected official for doing her job.
The President has publicly called AG James “scum”, a “total crook” and demanded her resignation – and ordered DOJ to go after her.
BASELESS: AG James has been crystal clear – these charges are baseless.
The facts and the law are on her side.
The investigation of AG James started based on cherry-picked documents and flimsy accusations from Trump’s FHFA director who has a pattern of ignoring the full facts to launch smear campaigns against Trump’s targets.
Despite the government’s characterizations, there was never any rental agreement for this property. AG James made all the mortgage payments herself.
CORRUPTING JUSTICE: Trump installed an insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience to bring these charges.
Trump’s own U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) – a former police officer and long-time prosecutor of violent crime and terrorism cases – was pushed out when he concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to bring these charges. Trump even publicly boasted about firing him.
A career prosecutor in EDVA came to the same conclusion that no charges should be filed – and she was ignored. The only one who would do his dirty work is his former personal attorney who has no prosecutorial experience – which is why she was put there.
BIPARTISAN CRITICISM: Trump’s actions to weaponize DOJ are egregious and drawing concern from across the political spectrum.
His actions with the U.S. Attorney are so alarming that even conservative Members of Congress like Senators Rand Paul and John Kennedy criticized him for them.
EXTREMIST AT DOJ TARGETING AG JAMES: Trump's chief antagonist at DOJ is Ed Martin – a man so extreme that Republican Senators refused to confirm him as a U.S. Attorney.
Martin stalked AG James’s home to stage a bizarre photo op to intimidate and harass her.
Martin publicly attacked AG James for doing her job, threatened wide-ranging investigations of her, and even demanded that she resign – all conduct that violates DOJ rules and Principles of Federal Prosecution, grand jury secrecy rules, and ABA standards of professional responsibility.
Not surprisingly, Martin’s mortgage fraud unit is excluding Republicans who have been the subject of questions about potential mortgage fraud, including members of Trump’s own Cabinet like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, as well as Texas (GOP) AG Ken Paxton.
WASTING TAXPAYER DOLLARS: Trump’s spending tax dollars to target AG James while federal employees are being asked to work without pay.
As the government shutdown continues, Trump has threatened not to provide backpay to federal employees work with no pay.
SURROGATE Q&A
A grand jury indicted the AG, not the President. What is the AG’s response to the charges?
The federal government’s allegations against the AG are baseless. This political witch hunt is a serious violation of the Department of Justice’s independence.
Despite the government’s characterizations in the charges:
o There was never any "timesharing or other shared ownership arrangement or agreement" to rent the property. There was never any rental agreement.
o AG James made all the mortgage payments herself.
o AG James retained “total control over the occupancy and use of the property" and always had access to the property, which she visited.
Who are the key Department of Justice figures involved in this case?
Trump’s leader in this witch hunt is Ed Martin, a MAGA loyalist who could not get confirmed by the Republican Senate because of his ties to January 6th and his links to white supremacists.
Martin has never been a prosecutor, and he has routinely broken prosecutorial rules including showing up outside of AG James’ home for a photo shoot — a stark violation of DOJ rules.
Lindsey Halligan, the new Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, joined the office under a hailstorm of questions about Donald Trump firing the previous U.S. Attorney for political reasons. Halligan was an insurance lawyer who had never prosecuted a case until this month — and legal experts are raising significant questions about her case against former FBI Director James Comey.
Who is paying for the AG’s legal defense in this matter?
AG James is using a private legal defense fund run by the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA). The legal defense fund is open to any Democratic AG who is being legally threatened by the Trump Administration, and it has strong ethics protections to prevent conflicts of interest.
What is the status of the Trump Administration’s other investigation into the AG’s office?
The AG’s office has received two subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York — one for the office’s work on the Trump Organization case, and another on the office’s work on the National Rifle Association case. The AG’s office stands strongly behind their work in those cases, and they have retained law firm Munger, Tolles and Olson to represent the office in that investigation.
What is the status of the AG’s case against the Trump Organization? News reports said the monetary damages were thrown out.
After Michael Cohen testified before Congress that the Trump Organization had likely engaged in fraud, Attorney General James commenced a two-year investigation into the organization’s financial dealings.
To not investigate following Cohen’s testimony would have been a dereliction of her duties as Attorney General, and the court said so.
After a thorough investigation, including review of thousands of documents, and a months-long trial, the court found Donald Trump, his eldest sons, and his company liable for staggering financial fraud, and imposed a penalty.
The appellate court upheld the finding that Donald Trump was liable for fraud. Several judges concluded that the monetary award was excessive.
The Attorney General has appealed that finding to the Court of Appeals, to ensure that Donald Trump is held accountable for his fraud.
Who is in charge of the AG’s office right now?
Attorney General James is the New York State Attorney General and fulfilling all duties of the office.