Letitia James Fires Back at Trump’s Fraud Prosecution of Her as ‘Lightweight’ and ‘Vindictive’ in Bid To Toss Case

The filing of a barnburning motion for dismissal by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, amounts to her boldest gambit yet to thwart the Trump Administration’s efforts to convict her of fraud — and even send her to prison.Ms. James faces criminal charges for bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. The allegations stem from a $100,00 loan she secured for a modest Norfolk, Virginia home. The loan terms mandated that she not use the house as an investment property. Prosecutors contend that she did just that, and reaped some $18,000 in “ill-gotten gains.” Ms. James asserts her innocence.The prosecutor, an elected Democrat who ran for office in 2018 vowing to “shine a bright light” into Mr. Trump’s business dealings and called him an “illegitimate” president, now argues that the case against her should be dismissed as “selective” and “vindictive.” The charges against Ms. James were handed up about a year and a half after she secured a $500 million judgment against Mr. Trump, his two adult sons, and their family business.That penalty was overturned when New York’s intermediate appellate court found that it was so “excessive” as to be unconstitutional. The court, though, kept in place the underlying verdict of “liable” handed down by Judge Arthur Engoron. Ms. James’s own legal jeopardy began when the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, accused her, in a deeply ironic turn, of mortgage fraud. Attorney General Bondi’s Department of Justice took up the case.Ms. James’s attorney, Abbe Lowell — a rainmaker with a deep Rolodex who also represented Hunter Biden in his criminal cases — argues in his client’s brief that the case against her is “the product of vindictive and selective prosecution, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Because this prosecution is flagrantly unconstitutional, this Court should dismiss the indictment with prejudice.” Mr. Lowell adds that the “Constitution requires that law, not retribution, must motivate criminal prosecutions.”Mr. Lowell argues that Mr. Trump “and his allies have used every insulting term in their vocabulary to deride” Ms. James, who “is being prosecuted as a result of the President and his officials’ genuine animus towards her.” Mr. Trump, in a Truth Social Post that appeared to be directed to Ms. Bondi, wrote “What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”Mr. Lowell acknowledges that his client “did not hold back on her criticisms of the President and his actions during his first term.” Mr. Trump, in turn, demanded that Ms. James be “placed under citizens arrest” for “blatant election interference and harassment.” Ms. James makes much of the resignation of the former interim United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, who ABC News reports was resisting bringing the cases against Ms. James and the former director of the FBI, James Comey.The Fourth United States Appeals Court, whose jurisdiction includes Virginia, has held that to prove a claim of vindictive prosecution the accused must show that the “(1) the prosecutor acted with genuine animus toward the defendant and (2) the defendant would not have been prosecuted but for that animus.” Ms. James admits that meeting such a high standard is “rare,” but that Mr. Trump “has shouted six years of direct evidence of genuine animus through a megaphone.”Mr. Lowell has combed Mr. Trump’s public utterances and compiled a list of descriptions he has used in connection to Ms. James; “corrupt,” “crooked,” “disgusting,” “evil,” “racist,” “incompetent,” “weak,” “criminal,” “scum,” and “a monster.” Mr. Lowell argues that the “lightweight indictment here shows … evidence that animus … motivates these charges. The President shows them the person, and DOJ finds him the ‘crime.’”Ms. Halligan in a statement declares that “No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust. The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.” The trial is scheduled to begin on January 26. The presiding judge, Jamar Walker, the first openly gay federal judge in Virginia, was appointed to the federal bench by President Biden.

Letitia James Fires Back at Trump’s Fraud Prosecution of Her as ‘Lightweight’ and ‘Vindictive’ in Bid To Toss Case

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