ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Letitia James fixated on Donald Trump as she campaigned for New York legal professional normal, branding the then-president a “con man” and ″carnival barker” and pledging to shine a “shiny gentle into each darkish nook of his actual property dealings.”
5 years later, James is on the verge of disrupting Trump’s actual property empire after a decide dominated Tuesday that he defrauded banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the worth of property on paperwork used for offers and securing loans.
The ruling shifts management of a few of Trump’s corporations to a court-appointed receiver, that means he might lose management of prized properties like Trump Tower, a sprawling suburban property, workplace buildings and extra.
For James, a Democrat, it’s simply the newest joust with a strong foe.
Right here’s a take a look at her political background and a few of her largest circumstances:LAWSUITS AGAINST TRUMP
James started investigating Trump nearly as quickly as she took workplace as legal professional normal in 2019.
She launched a number of lawsuits in opposition to the Republican’s administration over his immigration and environmental insurance policies when he was within the White Home. James inherited an ongoing state lawsuit in opposition to Trump’s charitable basis, filed earlier than she took workplace, and steered it to a settlement that included a $2 million positive.
She filed one other civil lawsuit in opposition to Trump final 12 months, alleging that his firm deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing property and his internet price on monetary paperwork.
“It’s the artwork of the steal,” she mentioned when asserting the case in opposition to Trump, turning the title of Trump’s ebook “The Artwork of the Deal” in opposition to him.
A decide in New York on Tuesday sided with James, ruling Trump and his firm dedicated fraud and ordering a few of his enterprise licenses to be rescinded as punishment.
The ruling, if it stands after an anticipated enchantment, might make it inconceivable for Trump to do enterprise in New York and would strip him of the flexibility to make strategic and monetary choices over a few of his properties within the state.
Trump has lengthy criticized James’ authorized volleys as political theater designed to catapult her to fame. He slammed the newest ruling in a sequence of social media posts, calling it a “POLITICALLY MOTIVATED WITCH HUNT.”
The Republican has additionally complained that her feedback about him, previous to her election, present she by no means supposed to be truthful.ANDREW CUOMO
In 2021, James oversaw an investigation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who had been accused by a number of ladies of sexual harassment.
The inquiry led to a exceptional downfall for the once-rising star within the Democratic get together. Attorneys employed by James concluded that 11 ladies had been telling the reality once they mentioned Cuomo touched them inappropriately, commented on their look or made suggestive feedback about their intercourse lives.
Cuomo says he was the goal of an overzealous #MeToo persecution and alleged that James used the investigation to additional her personal political aspirations.
James ran a short marketing campaign for governor after Cuomo resigned however deserted the bid after a number of weeks, saying she would as a substitute search a second time period as legal professional normal. She has dismissed Cuomo’s declare that her investigation of him was motivated by politics.NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION
Since 2020, James has been main a lawsuit in opposition to the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation in a case that accuses its leaders of economic mismanagement.
Her lawsuit accused a number of the NRA’s leaders of utilizing the gun advocacy group to counterpoint themselves and associates. As legal professional normal, James has regulatory energy over tax-exempt nonprofits, and he or she forged the authorized battle in opposition to the NRA as an effort to guard the group from itself.
Critics, although, claimed James — a proponent of gun management — was attempting to silence the nation’s strongest voice of gun homeowners.
She initially sought to have the NRA dissolved. A decide rejected that concept, however allowed the lawsuit to proceed.POLITICAL BACKGROUND
James gained a 2018 election for legal professional normal in New York, changing into the primary Black girl elected to statewide workplace, the state’s first Black legal professional normal and the primary girl elected to the publish. (A feminine predecessor, Barbara Underwood, was appointed.) She gained reelection as legal professional normal in 2022 after ditching her short-lived marketing campaign for governor.
Previous to that, James was the New York Metropolis Public Advocate, a job supposed to assist folks navigate and resolve points with authorities providers and function a watchdog over Metropolis Corridor.
The job made James a well-recognized fixture within the metropolis, usually showing at crime scenes, information conferences and different occasions to amplify the considerations of metropolis residents.
She has additionally served within the Metropolis Council and labored as a a public defender and an assistant state legal professional normal. She graduated from Lehman Faculty within the Bronx and earned her regulation diploma from Howard College in Washington.
