A prosecutor in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office has accused James of wasting taxpayer dollars on illegitimate investigations into President Trump.
According to Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld sent an email to about 2,000 employees in James’ office, claiming that its resources were being used to probe “convenient public enemies” instead of crimes affecting state residents. The New York Post reports that Wiesenfeld wrote that the office should focus on “rampant nonprofit homeless shelter fraud and antisemitic crimes in and around synagogues.” He claimed that his superior, Investor Protection Bureau Chief Shamiso Maswoswe, told him to go after “Trump himself, Truth Social, Hewlett Packard (DOJ approved merger),” without first finding “a credible reason for targeting the organizations and individuals.”
In a follow-up email, Wiesenfeld explained, as per The Times Union, “If you believe Trump is using (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.”
“I ask that you not serve as Tish’s personal attorneys by targeting her political enemies. Instead, I hope you choose to prosecute crimes and find the individuals accountable, rather than targeting individuals and then finding crimes.”
Last year, James was accused of abuse of power by former assistant solicitor general Brian Ginsberg. In a May 12 Supreme Court filing, Ginsberg criticized James’s use of the parens patriae doctrine in a Title IX case, arguing it exemplifies her pattern of abuse of power and overreach. Similarly, in January 2024, Trump’s attorney, Clifford Robert, accused James of a “shameless abuse of power” in her civil fraud case against Trump.
