U.S. Justice Department subpoenas New York AG James over her Trump fraud lawsuit

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks Feb. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of an investigation into whether she violated President Donald Trump’s civil rights, according to people familiar with the matter.

The subpoenas sought records related to a lawsuit James filed against Trump over alleged fraud in his personal business dealings and a lawsuit involving the National Rifle Association, according to one of the people. Another person confirmed that the subpoenas are related to a civil rights investigation. The people could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on the condition of anonymity.

The subpoenas mark an escalation of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to scrutinize perceived adversaries of the president, including those like James who had investigated him before his election win last November.

A spokesperson for James’ office, Geoff Burgan, declined to confirm the subpoenas but issued a statement that said, “Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American. We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights.”

In a separate statement, James’ personal attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, called the subpoenas “improper.”

“Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign,” Lowell said. “Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration.”

A spokesperson for the Justice Department, Natalie Baldassarre, declined to comment.

James, a Democrat, has sued Trump and his Republican administration dozens of times over his policies as president and over how he conducted his private business empire. Trump is appealing the $454 million judgment she won against him in a lawsuit alleging he and his companies defrauded banks and other lenders by giving them financial statements that inflated the value of his properties, including his golf clubs and his penthouse in Trump Tower.

Trump says that his financial statements actually understated his wealth and that any mistakes in the documents were harmless errors that played no role in banks’ lending decisions. He and his lawyers have repeatedly accused James of engaging in “lawfare” for political purposes -- a claim she has denied.

In her role as a regulator of charities and nonprofit groups registered in New York, James also sued the NRA and its longtime leader, Wayne LaPierre. A jury last year found that LaPierre misspent millions of dollars of the organization’s money and used the funds to pay for an extravagant lifestyle, while the NRA itself failed to properly manage its assets and violated whistleblower protections.

James had sought to dissolve the powerful gun advocacy organization altogether, though a judge ruled that that the allegations did not warrant a “corporate death penalty.” LaPierre announced his resignation from the NRA on the eve of the trial, and the NRA later said it had fresh board members and a new compliance team.

News of the subpoenas comes as the Justice Department advances an investigation into the Trump-Russia probe that shadowed Trump for much of his first term as president and as the administration has engaged in a widespread purge from the workforce of law enforcement officials who had been involved in examining the activities of Trump and his supporters.

FBI Director Kash Patel in May confirmed the existence of a separate investigation into James after a Trump administration official accused her of mortgage fraud. James’ lawyer has said that accusation was a lie based on a purposeful misreading of documents in a lawful real estate transaction.

Attorney General Pam Bondi this week named Ed Martin as a special prosecutor to help conduct the probe, according to a person familiar with the matter. Martin, who has been leading the department’s Weaponization Working Group since his nomination for District of Columbia U.S. attorney was pulled, is also helping conduct a separate mortgage fraud investigation into Democratic U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California as special prosecutor, the person said.

Schiff has slammed the allegations as politically motivated. Martin’s nomination for D.C. U.S. attorney collapsed amid concerns from Republican lawmakers about his support for Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters and scant prosecutorial experience.

The James subpoenas were earlier reported by The New York Times.

Eric Tucker And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press