Will Letitia James face any consequences for using the Attorney General's office to persecute political opponents? Or will voters in New York reward her for doing, well, pretty much what she explicitly promised to accomplish?
I know which way I'm betting.
Two days ago, one of James' assistant AGs went public to accuse her of ordering political vendettas, almost all of them without cause. The New York Post's editorial board called Daniel Wiesenfeld "the Whistleblower of the Year," but perhaps he might end up as the Jeremiah of the Empire State. Make no mistake, though – these allegations would certainly be abuses of power if corroborated:
A veteran prosecutor in state Attorney General Letitia James’ office claims he was ordered to dig up dirt on people and groups “affiliated with Donald Trump,” according to a bombshell report.
Daniel Wiesenfeld, a former Brooklyn prosecutor who now works in James’ Investor Protection Bureau, said his boss instructed him “to find and pursue crimes” committed by Trump allies, according to a since-deleted email obtained by the Times-Union.
Wiesenfeld alleged in his email on Friday that Bureau Chief Shamiso Maswoswe specifically directed him to target “Trump himself, Truth Social, Hewlett Packard (DOJ approved merger)… without having a credible reason for targeting the organizations and individuals,” the outlet reported.
The question remains: Is this a bug or a feature? At least in regard to Donald Trump, James explicitly ran on the promise to use her office to target the then-former president. She promised to "get" Trump and her office fulfilled that campaign pledge with a bizarre claim of real-estate fraud which had no victims at all. Even Trump's lenders said they profited from his deals and wanted to do more business with him. And if voters elected James while she promised to abuse power and warp the justice system to target the Left's chief bete noire, voters can't then act surprised if and when James decided to make abuse of power her standard operating procedure.
Nonetheless, Wiesenfeld's warning to staffers throughout the AG's office is spot-on, including his shot at James' twisted and personal priorities taking precedence over real issues of public interest:
“If you believe Trump is using the [Department of Justice] attorneys to prosecute his enemies and further his political interests, you should find it equally troubling that Tish [James] is doing exactly the same thing,” Wiesenfeld allegedly wrote in the message, which went to some 2,000 staffers before being yanked.
“I ask you that you not serve as Tish’s personal attorneys by targeting her political enemies,” he allegedly wrote. “Instead, I hope you choose to prosecute crimes and find the individuals accountable, rather than targeting individuals and then finding crimes.”
Weisenfeld asked that colleagues focus on prosecuting “rampant nonprofit homeless shelter fraud and antisemitic crimes in and around synagogues,” and accused James of wasting “significant public taxpayer dollars to target convenient public enemies,” Times-Union reported.
What's next? Certainly not any public admission of impropriety from James. In fact, the AG's office is now calling this a "personnel matter," after having put Wiesenfeld on paid administrative leave following his e-mail blast. The press release claims that James is committed to equal treatment under the law and that "we strongly reject any assertion to the contrary." Does that include James' own campaign speeches, in which she promised to do exactly what Wiesenfeld alleges and then followed through with the absurdity of her lawsuit against Trump?
Jonathan Turley recalls the campaign as well, and how absurd the AG's denials are at this point. However, Turley also shares my skepticism that James will suffer any political blowback, no matter how well deserved it may be:
When James first ran for Attorney General, I condemned her for what I viewed as an unethical campaign based on a promise to prosecute Trump without bothering to name any particular crime. According to Wiesenfeld, once in office, she converted her staff into a “get Trump” operation. The best that they could come up with was an absurd civil case against Trump where the “victims” made money, lost nothing, and wanted more business from the Trump corporation.
After securing a judge with her same disregard for blind justice, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered an obscene fine that was later largely thrown out on appeal. James’s pledge to seize Trump buildings also never materialized.
However, New Yorkers loved her for it. In an age of rage, James has always offered the type of pure, uncut product that rage addicts need. Outside of New York, most Americans are tired of the weaponization of the law. The problem is that primaries are often driven by a party’s most extreme elements and there is no indication that the lawfare will end. (I have also been critical of the Trump Administration targeting political opponents). Democrats are pledging new investigations and charges if they are returned to power in Congress.
Like other rage dealers, James is unlikely to be deterred by this email or its content. She knows that many New Yorkers still prefer performative lawfare to actual enforcement of fraud and other laws. Some voters would willingly watch billions stolen in program fraud in exchange for just one more trophy Trump conviction.
New York voters have an opportunity to apply consequences and accountability in November. The New York Post editorial board notes that her general-election opponent has already made a case for incompetence and mismanagement under James' direction. Wiesenfeld's whistleblowing testimony should convince Empire State voters to boot this tinpot corruptocrat:
James’ failures and abuses have long been obvious to us, including her stunning failure to target tens of billions in Medicaid fraud; plenty of other elected Democrats know she’s been a disaster though they don’t dare say so.
Her GOP challenger, Saritha Komatireddy, has been landing blow after blow in the runup to November’s election — flagging other James outrages such as wasting $20 million or more to hire outside lawyers to do work that those 2,000 staffers can surely handle and sending at least $54 million in taxpayer funds to criminal-friendly nonprofits.
James had proved herself a rancid political hack before Wiesenfeld blew the whistle; Komatiredy herself is a straight-arrow career prosecutor promoted to high office by then-President Barack Obama, recognized with multiple US Attorney General’s Awards as she sent terrorists and drug lords off to prison.
Tish James prefers to prosecute cops and her political enemies; let’s hope she’s soon out of government, if not in prison.
We can certainly hope to see that outcome, but don't bet on it. I'd be happy to have New York voters act rationally and prove me wrong in this instance, but a rational electorate wouldn't have put James in this office in the first place.
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