One House Republican is requesting that the Justice Department investigate New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Friday requesting he appoint a special prosecutor to see if recent lawsuits filed by James are an abuse of prosecutorial powers for political purposes. James made headlines by making public a civil investigation into the Trump organization over its finances and suing to dissolve the National Rifle Association.
“James ran on a platform of threatening President Donald J. Trump, his family, and his private businesses with investigations and lawsuits. She promised to ‘definitely sue him.’ On multiple occasions before and after her election she accused the President of money laundering, with zero evidence at her disposal. James essentially sought to gain power by promising to abuse power. She even campaigned on passing a bill to change New York’s double jeopardy laws just in case she wanted to sue nonspecific people whom the Administration might one day pardon,” Biggs wrote. “This is an outrageous abuse of prosecutorial power!”
Biggs argued that James’s actions exceed ethical violations, citing multiple statutes that he believes James might have violated in her legal pursuits.
“The American people have grown weary watching people of power abuse their positions with impunity. This should not become another partisan issue. I respectfully request that you appoint a Special Counsel to open a non-partisan investigation to determine whether Attorney General James violated any laws by her conduct or rhetoric,” Biggs wrote.
The Washington Examiner reached out to James’s office for comment on the letter.
In August, James asked a state court to order the Trump organization and Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the business, to cooperate with subpoenas issued and to provide financial documents as part of the state’s investigation. Trump said he would comply with the investigation, but only after the Nov. 3 election.
In his initial response to James’s filing, Eric Trump accused James of exercising the “highest level of prosecutorial misconduct,” attaching a video of the state attorney general in which she encouraged others to vote against Trump and indicated plans to sue him.
“We’re going to be a real pain in the ass. He’s going to know my name personally,” James said in the video that Trump tweeted out.
Earlier that month, James filed a lawsuit, People of the State of New York v. The National Rifle Association, charging the NRA with a string of “fraud and abuse” violations. The 169-page lawsuit details a list of financial misconduct, including alleged instances of using NRA funds for vacations, private jets, and high-priced meals. The organization quickly filed a retaliatory lawsuit against James.
“The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets. The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law,” James said at the time in a statement.
Author: Anthony Leonardi
Source: Washington Examiner: Exclusive: GOP lawmaker urges Barr to appoint special counsel to investigate New York attorney general
