The U.S. Justice Department, now run by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has started a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James — one of Donald Trump’s biggest political opponents.
This comes two years after James won a major civil fraud case against Trump. Now, federal prosecutors have sent out subpoenas and called a grand jury to look into whether James broke the law while doing her job. The accusation is that she committed “deprivation of rights,” which means a government official is accused of violating someone’s constitutional rights while acting in their official position.
According to people who spoke to The Daily Beast, the case is focused on claims that James ran for attorney general with the promise that she would target Trump and try to put him in jail. Trump’s supporters, especially those in his MAGA base, have long seen her as one of his main enemies. When news of the investigation broke, conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley — known online as DC Draino — posted on X, “Now the hunter becomes the hunted.”
James has been heavily involved in Trump’s legal troubles for years. In 2022, she sued him for civil fraud, accusing him of exaggerating the value of his properties so he could get better bank loans and cheaper insurance. A New York judge agreed with her case and ordered Trump to pay more than $300 million. Trump is appealing that ruling and says it was a political attack meant to damage him. Earlier this year, he told reporters, “She’s a horrible, horrible human being. I think she’s a total crook — there’s no question — but that’s just my opinion.”
James’s office has responded to the new Justice Department investigation by saying it’s simply “weaponization of the justice system” — a phrase Trump himself often used when he was under investigation.
The current investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, led by John A. Sarcone III. Sarcone is known to be a Trump ally. He got the job without Senate confirmation, and although federal judges initially blocked his appointment, the Justice Department gave him the same powers by naming him a “special attorney to the Attorney General.”
This isn’t the first time Bondi’s Justice Department has gone after James. In May, they launched another criminal investigation into claims that she lied on mortgage documents to get better rates. That case started when Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte sent a complaint, saying James falsely claimed that a home in Virginia she bought with her niece would be her primary residence. James’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, called it “improper political retaliation” pushed by Trump.
The Justice Department is also looking into James’s unsuccessful effort to shut down the National Rifle Association (NRA). Although she wasn’t able to close the organization, she did win a court case against its longtime leader, Wayne LaPierre, who was found to have spent millions of dollars in NRA funds on personal luxuries.
Critics of Bondi say all of this is part of a larger effort to use the Justice Department to punish political opponents. For now, the grand jury is still hearing evidence, the DOJ isn’t commenting publicly, and no one knows yet if any charges will be brought.
