Updated @ 8:12 PM EDT on August 8, 2025
According to two people with knowledge of the inquiry who were not permitted to talk publicly, the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a federal grand jury investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In 2023, James prevailed in a civil fraud action against President Trump and his businesses, leading to millions of dollars in fines associated with the fraud claims.
According to the sources, the DOJ is requesting additional information from James regarding the lawsuit and seems to be acting on the suspicion that James may have denied Trump and his adult children their rights in connection with that case.
The DOJ chose not to respond.
Since she first filed the civil lawsuit against him in 2022, Trump has publicly criticized James on numerous occasions.He has called Black Democrat James “racist” and accused her of working against him for political reasons.
James’s lawyer denounced the probe in a statement, claiming the Justice Department was being used as a weapon against the president’s alleged political rivals.
“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’s carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign,” said Abbe Lowell, the attorney for James. “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.”
According to two people who spoke to NPR, the senior federal prosecutor in Albany is in charge of the criminal investigation into James.John A. Sarcone III, Trump’s choice for the Northern District of New York U.S. attorney, is currently in charge of the position. Even though a group of federal judges rejected Sarcone’s permanent appointment last month, the chief federal prosecutor in the region is still Sarcone, who worked for Trump’s election law team in 2016.
A second investigation against James
James is also being looked into by the Justice Department for suspected mortgage fraud. Ed Martin, the leader of the Department of Justice’s Weaponization Working Group and the agency’s pardon attorney, is assisting with that probe.
Martin has been designated as a special prosecutor in both the mortgage investigation against James and the investigation against Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif, according to a different source who spoke to NPR. Schiff, a well-known opponent of President Trump, was instrumental in his initial impeachment.
Schiff is being represented by former Southern District of New York U.S. attorney Preet Bharara, who described the accusations against the California Democrat as “transparently false, stale, and long debunked.”
In order to satisfy demands to look into and bring charges against alleged foes, Mr. Martin, a January 6 defending attorney, has frequently conducted irrational and politically driven investigations. In a statement, Bharara stated, “Any purported investigation headed by him would be the epitome of weaponizing the legal system.”
In the end, James’ evidence led New York Judge Arthur Engoron to declare Trump responsible for fraud in the fall of 2023 after concluding that, while he was a well-known developer, he had overstated the worth of his real estate holdings to obtain better interest rates and loans. Trump has challenged the decision.
Trump frequently called for retaliation against a number of people he designated as opponents, such as James and Schiff, during the 2024 campaign trail, claiming that their investigations were witch hunts conducted by the Democrats.
Last year, Trump told supporters at a rally in Sioux Center, Iowa, that James “should be arrested and punished accordingly.”
Since the president’s initial impeachment, Schiff has also been the target of Trump’s assaults. Last October, during an interview with Fox News, Trump called the California senator “an enemy from within.”
His words, “That is a threat to democracy,” “These are bad people.”
Copyright 2025 NPR
