The president’s quest for retribution against his foes continues to rage on.
The Justice Department subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James in connection with her landmark civil fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump — a case that hit the former president and his company with $360 million in penalties — while separately investigating James’ own real estate transactions, the New York Times reported.
The two subpoenas, issued by the acting U.S. attorney in Albany, mark an escalation in Trump’s campaign to target one of his chief adversaries. One demands records tied to the Trump Organization case, in which James convinced a judge that Trump inflated property values by billions to secure favorable financing. The verdict and penalty have been appealed.
James’ lawyer called the investigation “the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign.” The White House declined to comment on whether or not it is directing the probes against James.
The other covers her 2020 suit against the NRA, which ousted then-CEO Wayne LaPierre and curtailed the group’s political influence.
Alongside the subpoenas, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Ed Martin — a Trump ally and former interim U.S. attorney — as special prosecutor to lead the separate real estate probe. That investigation is examining whether James falsified records for homes she owns in Brooklyn and Virginia, worth under $2 million combined, to obtain better loan terms.
The allegations closely mirror, albeit on a far smaller scale, the valuation misrepresentation claims she leveled at Trump. FBI director Kash Patel confirmed the existence of the property inquiry earlier this year.
Martin is also investigating Sen. Adam Schiff’s property dealings, suggesting a coordinated push to use federal legal tools against Trump’s political opponents. Whether the real estate allegations against James have merit or are purely political, they threaten to pull the state’s top law enforcement official into a drawn-out fight over the very valuation practices she’s spent years policing.
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