Former President Donald Trump on Thursday fired back at New York Attorney General Letitia James, saying she is "an operative for the Democrat Party in a political prosecution."
"Letitia James is no longer working as attorney general, she is an operative for the Democrat Party in a political prosecution," Trump wrote Thursday night in a statement from his Save America PAC.
Trump's rebuke came hours after James asked a state judge to hold Trump in contempt of court; she said he had failed to turn over documents she'd subpoenaed for her civil inquiry into Trump's businesses. She cited an earlier agreement by Trump to comply "in full" with her subpoena for documents and data by March 31.
Her office has alleged, among other things, that the ex-president overstated the value of his properties and his personal worth in representations he made to lenders, insurers and other prominent real estate figures. This, according to the Washington Post and other outlets.
James, who ran for office with an express intention to pursue action against Trump, asked for the imposition of a $10,000-a-day fine until he complies with a subpoena in the inquiry. For his part, Trump has repeatedly branded her office's case a politically motivated witch hunt without substance.
"This is just a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time, by a failed attorney general, who continues to use her office for political gain following a disastrous and embarrassing attempt to run for governor, in which she only received a 3% approval rating, and was forced to drop out of the race by her own party, in disgrace," Trump's statement began.
Trump, repeating a line from earlier in the month, added that he wants his reputation back after endless browbeating from political opponents and critics – James among them.
"As president I had two jobs — to run our country well, and to survive," Trump's statement continued. "I've been investigated by the Democrats more than Billy the Kid, Jesse James and Al Capone combined.
"This has been going on for years, and in all cases, I have been innocent. After having survived so many investigations, numerous people have said to me: 'You must be the cleanest person alive. Nobody else could have survived this.' But how do I get my reputation back as this unfair persecution endlessly continues?"
Trump sought to emphasize a contrast between the accomplishments of his administration and the travails of Democrat leadership, not only in James' state of New York, but nationally and on the world stage under President Joe Biden.
"New York has been through hell, and she is an embarrassment to our legal system," Trump's statement added. "James uses her office for political gain, while New York crime is up over 50%, a bigger increase than any other place in the nation. Much of it is violent crime — murder, rape, and drug trafficking (which is at the highest level ever).
"When will the witch hunt against a popular former president, who had our country energy independent, with no inflation, a strong southern border, and no wars (such as that which is now raging uncontrollably in Ukraine), who rebuilt our military (including Space Force), cut taxes, regulations, and so much more, ever end.
"When will horrible and unfair political harassment and persecution in our country finally be over. Instead, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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