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Socialist New York Metropolis mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani defended Democrat New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James following her grand jury indictment on fees of financial institution fraud and making false statements to a monetary establishment, calling it a “shameless act of political retribution” from the Trump administration.
“This isn’t merely an assault on Lawyer Normal Tish James,” Mamdani stated Friday throughout a press convention with native New York leaders talking out in protection of James. “That is an assault on our metropolis. And every one in every of us represents totally different components of that very same metropolis, and we converse with one voice in the present day.”
A grand jury in Virginia indicted James Thursday months after Federal Housing Finance Director Invoice Pulte stated in a prison referral to the Division of Justice in April that James allegedly falsified mortgage information to acquire extra favorable loans.
Mamdani — a left-wing candidate who has advocated for and backed communist ideas, together with calling for the seizure of the “technique of manufacturing” — stated he spoke with James after she was indicted Thursday and relayed she was assured she would win the case towards her.
LETITIA JAMES’ OWN WORDS COME BACK TO HAUNT HER AFTER FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES FILED
A grand jury in Virginia indicted New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James Oct. 9, 2025, on fees of financial institution fraud and making false statements to a monetary establishment. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs)
“Final night time, she advised me, ‘Don’t fret about me,'” he stated. “And that is indicative of an legal professional basic who has spent all of her time worrying in regards to the folks of this metropolis. And so I do know that the crosshairs the Trump administration is placing the legal professional basic by way of is due to the truth that she has had the audacity to face as much as him at a time when so many have bowed.”
“She has additionally made it clear to myself and lots of others that she has a full confidence within the authorized staff round her that may be sure that not solely will she have the report of getting gained the case within the courtroom behind us, however successful this case as properly,” Mamdani later added, referring to the New York Metropolis courthouse the place President Donald Trump stood trial within the interim of his first and second presidency in New York v. Trump.
James is a longtime political foe of Trump’s, together with campaigning for the legal professional basic job in 2018 by vowing to aggressively pursue authorized fees towards Trump if elected.
Her workplace filed 100 authorized challenges towards the primary Trump administration and stated after his second presidential win in 2024 that she would proceed difficult him within the courts to “defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of legislation.”
James’ workplace additionally launched the New York civil fraud case towards Trump and the Trump Group over allegations of defective enterprise practices, successful a virtually $500 million judgment in 2024.
New York Metropolis Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani vowed to defend New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James amid the authorized troubles whereas slamming Trump’s “authoritarian administration.” (Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket by way of Getty Photographs)
Mamdani continued that the indictment is a “shameless act of political retribution” by the hands of Trump towards James.
ANDERSON COOPER SAYS IT WAS ‘NOT A GREAT LOOK’ FOR LETITIA JAMES TO THREATEN TO SUE TRUMP AFTER HER ELECTION
“What Donald Trump has sought to do with taking on the federal authorities is to advance his personal greed and his personal agenda,” he stated. “And we at the moment are watching, as within the pursuit of that development, he lays waste to our democracy. This can be a blatant miscarriage of justice. This can be a shameless act of political retribution.”
“As a substitute of prosecuting Tish James for doing her job, Donald Trump must be doing his. As a result of Donald Trump ran for president on three guarantees: to hold out mass deportation, to punish his political enemies and to ease the price of residing disaster,” he stated, claiming Trump is “basically incapable of delivering on” the third promise.
State Lawyer Normal Letitia James seen throughout public security announcement to stop gun violence at Metropolis Corridor. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket by way of Getty Photographs)
He vowed to defend James amid the authorized troubles whereas slamming Trump’s “authoritarian administration.”
“This indictment is instructive in two clear methods,” he stated. “The primary, in its instance of an authoritarian administration that’s trying to punish these for whom their solely crime is holding Donald Trump to the identical legal guidelines that each American must be held to. And the second is what it asks of every of us. Will we sit idly by as an authoritarian president like Donald Trump assaults the very material of this democracy?”
NEW YORK AG LETITIA JAMES’ INDICTMENT SPARKS SHARP PARTISAN DIVIDE
Pulte’s prison referral letter in April pointed to a Norfolk, Virginia, residence James bought in 2023, which she recognized on mortgage paperwork and a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac kind as a property that may function her main residence.
New York Metropolis mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani defended New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James throughout a press convention Oct. 10, 2025, after James was indicted by a grand jury in Virginia. (Charly Triballeau/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
James is legally required to stay in New York as a statewide elected official in that state.
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The prison referral additionally cited previous reported points with James’ properties, together with a 2001 buy of a Brooklyn, New York, property. The certificates of occupancy lists the property as a five-unit residence, whereas James’ mortgages listing the property as 4 models, which may have an effect on mortgage agreements.
Fox Information Digital reached out to the White Home and James’ workplace for remark Friday afternoon and has not but acquired any responses.
Fox Information Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
