WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is escalating efforts to scrutinize perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump with investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff.
The Justice Department has subpoenaed James for records related to a lawsuit the Democrat filed against Trump over alleged fraud in his personal business dealings, according to a person familiar with the matter. It's part of an investigation into whether James violated Trump's civil rights, another person said. Another subpoena seeks records related to a lawsuit involving the National Rifle Association and its longtime leader Wayne LaPierre.
The people could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on the condition of anonymity.
Attorney General Pam Bondi this week also named Ed Martin as a special prosecutor to help conduct separate mortgage fraud investigations into James and Democratic U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California, one of the people said. James and Schiff have denied any wrongdoing and have called the claims politically motivated.
The moves are among the most serious yet the Justice Department has taken against political foes of the president, who vowed on the campaign trail to seek retribution against his opponents. Schiff and James are both vocal critics of Trump, and James has sued Trump and his Republican administration dozens of times over his policies as president and over how he conducted his private business empire.
News of the subpoenas comes as the Justice Department advances an investigation into the Trump-Russia probe that shadowed Trump for much of his first term as president and as the administration has engaged in a widespread purge from the workforce of law enforcement officials who had been involved in examining the activities of Trump and his supporters.
A spokesperson for James' office, Geoff Burgan, declined to confirm the subpoenas but issued a statement that said, “Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American. 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.”
In a separate statement, James’ personal attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, called the subpoenas “improper.”
“Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign,” Lowell said. “Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department, Natalie Baldassarre, declined to comment.
FBI Director Kash Patel in May confirmed the existence of a separate investigation into James after a Trump administration official accused her of mortgage fraud. James’ lawyer has said that accusation was a lie based on a purposeful misreading of documents in a lawful real estate transaction.
Martin, who was named special prosecutor to help conduct that probe, has been leading the department’s Weaponization Working Group since his nomination for District of Columbia U.S. attorney was pulled amid Republican lawmakers’ concerns about his scant prosecutorial experience and support for Jan. 6 rioters.
Martin is also involved in a separate investigation into Schiff, whom Trump has called to be prosecuted over mortgage fraud allegations related to a property in Maryland.
Schiff’s attorney called the allegations “transparently false, stale, and long debunked.”
“Mr. Martin is a January 6-defending lawyer who has repeatedly pursued baseless and politically-motivated investigations to fulfill demands to investigate and prosecute perceived enemies,” said Preet Bharara, a former U.S. attorney in New York who is representing the senator. “Any supposed investigation led by him would be the very definition of weaponization of the justice process.”
Trump is appealing a $454 million judgment James won against him in a lawsuit alleging he and his companies defrauded banks and other lenders by giving them financial statements that inflated the value of his properties, including his golf clubs and his penthouse in Trump Tower.
Trump says that his financial statements actually understated his wealth and that any mistakes in the documents were harmless errors that played no role in banks’ lending decisions. He and his lawyers have repeatedly accused James of engaging in “lawfare” for political purposes — a claim she has denied.
In her role as a regulator of charities and nonprofit groups registered in New York, James also sued the NRA and LaPierre. A jury last year found that LaPierre misspent millions of dollars of the organization’s money and used the funds to pay for an extravagant lifestyle, while the NRA itself failed to properly manage its assets and violated whistleblower protections.
James had sought to dissolve the powerful gun advocacy organization altogether, though a judge ruled that the allegations did not warrant a “corporate death penalty.” LaPierre announced his resignation from the NRA on the eve of the trial, and the NRA later said it had fresh board members and a new compliance team.
The James subpoenas were earlier reported by The New York Times.
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Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report from Albany, New York.
