Good day all. One of the more corrupt Attorney General’s in the United States is Letitia James. She was elected by promising to use her office to “Get Trump no matter what!” As the old saying goes, what goes around, comes around and it’s now Letitia James who is under criminal investigation for fraud.
I’ve written previously on the tribulations, and the hoped for trials of Letitia James. With any luck, her fate will be in the hands of an actual, unbiased jury. (Unlike the one’s she’s cooked up to “Get Trump!”) What is new is that the New York Democrats, who control the State Government, have decided that the New York taxpayers should foot the bill for James’s legal team. Here are the details from the Populist Times:
New York Attorney General Letitia James’s legal defense could soon be funded by taxpayers if the criminal investigation against her leads to charges, according to a new report.
The Western Journal reports the revelations emerged following leaks that the Democrat-led state Legislature quietly included a $10 million legal defense fund in the state budget. The fund would cover legal expenses for state officials facing federal investigations initiated during the Trump administration.
Well, that doesn’t sound shady at all. Although the Populist Times didn’t provide a link to the Western Journal article, I did track it down. It starts out with the Federal investigation into James’s alleged mortgage fraud and they link to a story about this in the New York Post. According to the New York Post:
Albany Democrats are expected to sign off on a provision allowing certain officials to tap into a $10 million fund to cover “any reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred” — even as part of probes not directly related to their state employment.
The language is being slipped into New York’s operations budget bill — one of several expected to be made public and voted on starting Wednesday as the Legislature moves to pass next year’s fiscal plan. Multiple sources told The Post that the specific language in the bill would apply to James’ looming legal fight.
To say this is questionable would be an understatement. While most people might consider it to be OK to pay for a state officials defense if it involved the official acting under the state’s authority, what James is alleged to has done had nothing to do with her role as the Attorney General. If I recall correctly, both the house loan and the apartment building refinance took place prior to her becoming Attorney General.
New York Republican State Committee Chairman Ed Cox quickly lashed out over the move to slip a legal “bailout” to James, calling it an “outrageous abuse of power and a slap in the face to every New Yorker.”
“This is what corruption looks like in plain sight: political insiders rigging the system to protect their own, while hardworking families get shortchanged,” he said in a statement.
“Tish James used her office to wage partisan lawfare against her political opponents, and now New Yorkers are footing the bill for the consequences.”
I don’t know why this surprises Mr. Cox. This is part and parcel of a one party state, which, for all intents and purposes, New York is. The Democrats control outright the legislature, the judicial branch and the executive branch and they’ve been using it to go after their political enemies such as President Trump.
Now that President Trump is back in office, despite their best efforts to railroad him into bankruptcy and prison, the shoe is on the other foot. The one major difference? The Trump DoJ is going to follow the law, the Constitution and due process. If nothing comes of the investigation into Letitia James’s personal business dealing, then she will be cleared and that will be that.
Under New York law, current and former state employees can be reimbursed for legal fees to defend themselves against lawsuits directly related to their work while in office, such as is the case with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — whose various scandals are estimated to have cost taxpayers $60 million and counting.
Which makes sense. What we’re dealing with here is not civil suits, but actual criminal charges. There is a bit of a difference between the two.
But the provision in the bill is specifically geared to benefit state employees who, as a result of their jobs, are subjected to “discriminatory or retaliatory treatment” by the federal government.
While the bill language shared with The Post doesn’t mention James by name, it indicates state employees could be covered if the “legally compulsive process” was initiated by the feds “after Jan. 1, 2025,” meaning following President Trump’s election.
The bill would cover those who “obtained representation by private counsel in response to any request, summons, command, subpoena, warrant, investigative interview or document request, audit or legally compulsive process” started by the feds after that date as a result of their state employment or duties.
Ok, this last paragraph is now clouding the issue. What James is alleged to have done had nothing to do with her roles as a state official. It was a private business matter. In any case, what we are seeing here is how the Democrat Party thinks. They see themselves as “The Elite” and that the rules they promulgate on the rest of us do not apply to them.
It’s rare for a New York State official to be criminally charged in the State of New York for corruption. When it happens, it’s usually due to that official falling out of favor or was so blatant that the State law enforcement authorities really don’t have a choice. Most of the criminal investigations, charges and in many cases, convictions over the last few decades have been done by the Federal government.
I don’t know if actual charges will be brought against James. Personally, I think they should be. (I definitely won’t have to worry about being on her Jury. I think she’s GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY!) If this happens, and if she is convicted, I wonder what the taxpayers of New York will think when they’re handed the bill? Somehow, I don’t think to many of them will be very happy.
Thatisall
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