Letitia James.
Letitia James
Attorney General of at New York State
Letitia James has, in short order, become the most consequential, state attorney general in the United States.
The former city public advocate had been gearing up for the mayor’s race three years ago, until the state’s top legal job opened up when Eric Schneiderman resigned following assault claims.
Since then, James has hounded the Trump Organization for allegedly manipulating the values of its real estate assets in order to receive tax benefits. Her office has been particularly interested in Trump’s Seven Springs estate in Westchester — which Trump claimed a $21 million tax deduction on for not developing 160 acres at the site — as well as properties in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.
She organized other state attorneys general to oppose a Trump administration banking rule that would allow payday lenders to charge high interest rates on consumer loans, circumventing state rate caps.
And James also targeted the National Rifle Association’s tax-exempt status with the intent to dissolve it. The pro-gun group tried to declare bankruptcy and countersued to get the state to drop their legal motion, but a judge rejected the group’s Chapter 11 filing in May.
Her lawsuits generated national headlines, but James was regarded in the state as too close to the governor who helped secure her election in 2018. That changed when James released a report in January, showing that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration misrepresented the number of nursing home deaths in New York during the pandemic.
Her move, too, to take charge of an inquiry into the governor’s workplace sexual harassment allegations by appointing two independent prosecutors, while swatting away Cuomo’s suggested investigator, was also seen as a warning shot across Cuomoland. The governor may even have to testify as a witness in James’ harassment inquiry.
Now, the state waits for that second Cuomo-related report, whose findings could end one governorship and launch another.—A.S.
