Justice Department escalates scrutiny of Trump foes with probes of
Letitia James and Adam Schiff
[August 09, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
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.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news
conference outside Manhattan federal court in New York on Feb. 14,
2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
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.
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