The Department of Justice has issued two subpoenas to Letitia James, the New York attorney general who has been repeatedly criticized by Donald Trump, according to reports.
One of the cases relates to a civil fraud case brought by James’s office against Trump, which resulted in the president owing New York state $500m, the New York Times reported. The other case relates to the attorney general’s investigation into National Rifle Association (NRA), a rightwing gun lobbying group.
Trump has repeatedly attacked James, calling her a “horrible, horrible human being” earlier this year. In May, federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into James, after the Trump administration alleged she may have falsified paperwork for properties she owns in Virginia and New York. NBC News reported that the government’s new cases are focused on whether James deprived Trump and the NRA’s legal rights in its civil lawsuits.
The investigation will raise further concerns that Trump is using the legal system to pursue personal vendettas. Last month the justice department announced a new “strike force” to investigate unsubstantiated charges that Barack Obama and top officials conspired to hurt Trump’s 2016 campaign, as legal experts told the Guardian that the department is “being used as a personal weapon” by Trump.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for James, told the Times that any investigation into Trump’s fraud case was “the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign”.
“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,” Lowell said. “If prosecutors carry out this improper tactic and are genuinely interested in the truth, we are ready and waiting with facts and the law.”
A spokesperson for James said: “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.”
The Department of Justice declined to comment when reached by the Guardian.
