New York Attorney General Letitia James, facing fraud charges, strikes defiant tone at Mamdani rally

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James struck a defiant tone Monday during her first public appearance since being indicted on federal fraud charges related to her purchase of a home in Virginia.

The Democrat took the stage to thunderous and sustained applause and chants of “We love Tish” during a boisterous rally for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in the city’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

James warned of “powerful voices trying to silence truth and punish dissent” and “weaponize justice for political gain,” though she stopped short of naming President Donald Trump, who had pushed for months for Justice Department officials to bring charges against her.

“We are witnessing the fraying of our democracy, the erosion of our system of government,” James said. “This, my friends, is a defining moment in our history.”

She called on supporters to protect “every norm and every rule of law” as she vowed she “will not capitulate.”

“You come for me, you got to come though all of us!,” James roared, to loud cheers. “Every single one of us!”

The event, which also included remarks from New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud and the television personality and podcaster known as The Kid Mero, kicked off the final stretch of Mamdani’s campaign ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

The 33-year-old state lawmaker faces former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the race to succeed Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who abandoned his reelection bid in recent days.

Mamdani has been a vocal supporter of James, a longtime political nemesis of Trump. On Friday, he joined other local Democrats in denouncing the federal charges the city’s former public advocate now faces, calling the indictment a “shameless act of political retribution” by Trump.

Last week, James was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution stemming from a house she bought in Norfolk, Virginia, for $137,000 in 2020.

Federal prosecutors say the mortgage James obtained for the purchase required the house to be primarily for her personal use for one year. They say James broke that rule by renting the house out to a family of three.

James and her lawyers haven’t answered questions about the home purchase, but in a video statement last week she dismissed the charges as “baseless.” She also decried the federal indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”

James is expected to make her initial appearance in a federal court in Virginia on Oct. 24. If convicted of the felony charges, she would automatically relinquish her office under New York law.

Still, James has been fundraising off the indictment as she looks to reelection next year.

As attorney general, James sued Trump and his administration dozens of times. She won a large judgment against Trump and his companies last year in a suit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. An appeals court overturned the fine but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor if elected, has campaigned on making the city more affordable for everyday residents.

Trump has repeatedly railed against Mamdani, labeling him as a “communist,” while Mamdani has cast himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”

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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany contributed to this story.