Trump Jr. accuses NY AG James of ‘persecution’ in Trump Organization probe
Donald Trump Jr. accused New York Attorney General Letitia James Tuesday of leading a “political persecution” against his father, former President Donald Trump, with her office’s investigation of the Trump Organization.
“I think it’s a political persecution, and I know that because she literally campaigned on it,” the 45th president’s eldest son told Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, referring to James’ 2018 campaign to be elected state AG. “She was going to investigate the crimes. The problem is, it wasn’t as though she was a part of this office. She had no idea.
“But in New York, it’s OK to try to persecute your political enemies, to try to target them, to try to hurt them, and they’ve been doing that for over five years,” Trump Jr. added. “So five years, no actual crime. They’re in search of a crime. They’ve been trying to investigate, to create a crime, because that’s what you’re doing in New York. Again, shouldn’t surprise us anymore, but if this was going on in a banana republic, we’d be outraged.”
James’ office revealed on May 15 that its investigation of the Trump Organization was being conducted “in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA.”
The state has been investigating the Trump Org since 2019 after the former president’s onetime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified to Congress that Trump exaggerated the value of his financial assets in order to help score more favorable terms on loans and insurance policies.
Last week, The Washington Post reported that Vance had convened a grand jury to examine potential criminal charges stemming from his investigation, which is focusing on similar allegations of insurance and bank fraud. That report drew an angry response from the elder Trump, who called the New York investigation “a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history” and “an affront to the almost 75 million voters who supported me in the Presidential Election.”
“In New York, crime is going through the roof. Taxes are going to go through the roof. Property values are going down, murder rates are skyrocketing,” Trump Jr. said Tuesday. “And yet, rather than using taxpayer dollars to actually go and solve those issues to prevent the degeneration of New York even further, they’re gonna continue to spend those taxpayer dollars targeting their enemies, and that’s pretty disgusting.”
James’ office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.