Deleted Email Exposes Letitia James Telling Staff to Target Trump Without Probable Cause

There’s something almost comically predictable about this story, except it’s not funny when you’re watching the justice system get twisted into a political weapon. A New York prosecutor just accused Attorney General Letitia James’ office of telling employees to “find and pursue crimes” involving Donald Trump and his businesses. Not investigate credible allegations, mind you. Find crimes. As in, pick the target first and figure out what he did wrong later.

That’s not how any of this is supposed to work.

The allegation comes from Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld, who works in the Investor Protection Bureau. According to the Times Union, he sent an email to colleagues claiming his boss, Shamiso Maswoswe, directed him to go after Trump himself, Truth Social, and even a Hewlett Packard merger that the DOJ already approved. The kicker? He says there wasn’t a credible reason for targeting any of them. The email reportedly got scrubbed from office servers shortly after it went out. You know, the kind of thing totally innocent people do all the time.

James’ office brushed this off as a personnel matter and insisted they don’t target people based on politics. Right. And I’m sure it’s pure coincidence that James literally campaigned for her position promising to go after Trump. She said it out loud, on camera, multiple times. This isn’t some conspiracy theory cooked up in a basement somewhere. It’s documented fact.

Here’s where it gets even more interesting. Maswoswe, the supervisor at the center of these claims, used to work as a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. She got fired in December 2017 during Trump’s first term. Then in 2021, she filed a discrimination lawsuit against the DOJ, claiming she was terminated unfairly because of her race, pregnancy, and caregiving responsibilities. She joined James’ office in February 2022. Think about that timeline for a second. Someone who believes they were wronged by the Trump administration ends up in a position where they’re allegedly directing investigations into Trump and his associates without proper cause.

The White House didn’t mince words about this. Spokesperson Lauren Bis called it “more proof of the weaponization of the justice system” and said the lawfare against Trump, his family, and allies needs to stop. Strong language, sure, but is it wrong? When you’ve got prosecutors admitting they’re being told to find crimes rather than investigate them, that’s not law enforcement. That’s a fishing expedition with badges.

Wiesenfeld reportedly got placed on paid administrative leave after sending his agency-wide email. The general counsel, Kumiki Gibson, sent a follow-up telling employees this was an internal matter and nobody was in danger. That’s a strange thing to say, honestly. Who said anything about danger? Unless the danger they’re referring to is someone actually exposing what’s happening behind closed doors.

This whole situation stinks of exactly what conservatives have been warning about for years. When you let personal politics drive prosecutorial decisions, you don’t get justice. You get revenge dressed up in legal language. The entire point of our system is that the law comes first, then the investigation, then the charges. Not the other way around. You don’t start with a person you don’t like and work backwards until you find something to charge them with.

James ran for office promising to get Trump. She delivered on that promise with a civil fraud case that resulted in massive penalties. Now we’ve got someone inside her office saying the quiet part out loud, that they were directed to target Trump and his entities without legitimate reasons. If that doesn’t concern you regardless of your politics, you’re not paying attention. Because today it’s Trump, tomorrow it could be anyone who falls out of favor with whoever holds power.

This is the weaponization of government institutions. This is what happens when winning matters more than being right.

Related: Washington Post and New York Times Just Got Caught Hiding What ICE Actually Arrested