Yesterday, the Justice Department has subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James, a legal maneuver that escalates President Trump’s ongoing campaign against one of his most persistent political adversaries. At the same time, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed a special prosecutor to examine James’s personal real estate transactions, further widening the scope of scrutiny on the state’s top law enforcement official.
The civil rights probe, which had not been previously disclosed, is focused on whether James’s office violated Trump’s rights in its successful fraud case against him, according to three people familiar with the matter. That case resulted in a penalty of more than half a billion dollars, including interest, after a judge concluded that Trump and his company had overvalued assets by billions of dollars. The investigation is also looking at James’s ongoing lawsuit against the National Rifle Association, which led to the removal of longtime NRA leader Wayne LaPierre and diminished the organization’s political influence.
The subpoenas—issued by the acting U.S. attorney in Albany, John A. Sarcone III—are part of what two sources described as a broader effort to determine whether James’s office improperly used its law enforcement powers. The civil rights statute at the heart of the inquiry is typically used to prosecute abuses such as racial, religious, or gender discrimination by police officers or prison guards, making its use here highly unusual.
Bondi’s appointment of Ed Martin, a far-right former interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., adds another layer of volatility. Martin will oversee the real estate investigation into whether James manipulated records related to homes in Brooklyn and Virginia to obtain favorable loan terms—allegations her attorney, Abbe Lowell, has dismissed as baseless. Martin is also investigating similar accusations against Senator Adam Schiff of California, another Democrat frequently targeted by Trump.
Lowell called the moves “the most blatant and desperate example” of political retribution. Preet Bharara, representing Schiff, described Martin as “brazenly partisan and politically compromised,” noting that Schiff himself had blocked Martin’s earlier nomination for the U.S. attorney position in Washington.
James has been on Trump’s radar since her 2018 campaign when she pledged to investigate the president for fraud. Her fraud case against the Trump is now on appeal, but she has defended her record vigorously. A spokesperson for her office said Friday, “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.”
The Justice Department has declined to comment on either the civil rights probe or the real estate investigation. But the pairing of the two inquiries—and the political profiles of those leading them—underscores how the Justice Department under Trump has embraced an aggressive strategy to investigate officials who once investigated him. For James, a veteran prosecutor now facing the weight of federal scrutiny, the stakes are as high as they have ever been.
