(AFP) – The Justice Department has opened new investigations into Letitia James, the New York attorney general who brought a civil fraud case against President Donald Trump, US media reported Friday. The New York Times said a subpoena had been issued to James, an outspoken Trump critic, in the civil fraud case and another that her office brought against the National Rifle Association (NRA).
A New York judge ordered Trump in February of last year to pay $355 million plus interest for unlawfully inflating his wealth and manipulating the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms. The Times said the Justice Department was examining whether James’s office had violated Trump’s civil rights in the civil fraud suit brought against the real estate tycoon.
James’s office also filed a financial mismanagement case against Trump ally Wayne LaPierre, which saw the senior NRA executive banned from serving in any role at the gun rights advocacy group for 10 years. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports.
James is also reportedly the target of a Justice Department criminal probe for allegedly falsifying records related to properties in Virginia and New York to obtain better loan terms. In a statement in April when reports emerged of the investigation, James denied any wrongdoing and said that she “will not be intimidated by bullies.”
Since taking office in January, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies, stripping former officials of their security clearances and protective details, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him, and pulling federal funding from universities.
The FBI recently opened criminal investigations into two other prominent Trump critics, former FBI director James Comey and ex-CIA chief John Brennan, for making alleged false statements to Congress. Abbe Lowell, James’s personal lawyer, told the Times that any investigation into James over Trump’s civil fraud case is “the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign.”
“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,” Lowell said. A spokesperson for James 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,” the spokesperson said, “and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights.”
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