In the second case of an American President handpicking a Justice Department lawyer to charge someone he wants to retaliate’ against?
New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, has been charged with mortgage fraud….
Former FBI Director James Comey was the first….
Donald J. Trump IS a convicted felon himself….
AG James has won a civil fine against Trump for hundreds of millions of dollars….
Trump seems to be using the power of his office , as Presiodent, in trying to get out of paying the judgement thru a abuse of power?….
In plain sight….
Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that the charges against her were “baseless.”
“The president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” she said…
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A prosecutor handpicked by President Trump secured an indictment of New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, on bank fraud and false statement charges in the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday after the president publicly demanded Ms. James be charged.
The investigation of Ms. James, a New York Democrat who brought a civil case against Mr. Trump, focused on two homes she owned in Norfolk, Va., and Brooklyn. A Trump housing official had referred the case to the Justice Department, suggesting that Ms. James might have falsified records related to those homes.
The indictment of Ms. James came two weeks after the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, indicted James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, on charges he lied to Congress. Mr. Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and accused Ms. Halligan of vindictive and selective prosecution.
In both cases, the career prosecutors who conducted the investigations reported that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges, and Ms. Halligan’s predecessor declined to bring either case before the grand jury.
The case, being pursued in Alexandria, Va., came less than three weeks after Mr. Trump forced out the top federal prosecutor there, who had told superiors that there was insufficient evidence to justify criminal charges. In his place, the president installed Ms. Halligan, a White House aide with no prosecutorial experience.
Ms. Halligan made the grand jury presentation in the James case on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing case.
Mr. Trump has escalated his campaign against his perceived rivals in recent weeks, pressing publicly for the U.S. attorney’s office to pursue Ms. James and Mr. Comey. He posted on social media last month that they were “guilty as hell,” declaring, “We can’t delay any longer.” Mr. Comey was indicted last month in a case his lawyer is seeking to challenge, asking a judge to dismiss the charges as a vindictive prosecution….
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Federal career prosecutors in Virginia found little evidence to indicate she knowingly misled banks or was dishonest in her loan paperwork, according to people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Since then, Ms. Halligan has taken control of the case and has sought to file charges.
Ms. James has been one of the president’s most high-profile opponents since 2018, when she ran to be the attorney general, making her opposition to Mr. Trump a key plank in her platform. She opened an investigation into him shortly after taking office, and in 2022, her office accused him of fraudulently inflating the value of his assets.
After a monthslong trial, Ms. James won a civil judgment against Mr. Trump that, with interest, rose to more than $500 million. In August, however, a New York State appeals court tossed out the fine, saying it violated the Constitution’s bar against “excessive” financial penalties.
That ruling nevertheless upheld the trial court’s finding that Mr. Trump and others overstated the value of real estate assets owned by his company in order to bolster his purported net worth and help the company get better terms on loans. The case is expected to be reviewed by New York’s highest court…..
image…Attorney General Letitia James of New York at a news conference last week.Credit…Victor J. Blue for The New York Times
Prosecutor Who Rejected Trump’s Pressure Is Fired
“A federal prosecutor who resisted President Trump’s demands to bring charges against Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, was fired along with her deputy on Friday evening,“ the New York Times reports.
“The dismissal of the prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, was the latest fallout from attempts by career Justice Department officials to pump the brakes on Mr. Trump’s wide-ranging efforts to seek retribution against his perceived political opponents.”