Letitia James ‘Should Be Very Concerned’ About Grand Jury Investigation into Her Fraud [WATCH]

MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos cautioned Friday that New York Attorney General Letitia James should be concerned about a reported federal investigation into whether she violated President Donald Trump’s civil rights through her civil fraud case against him.

According to The New York Times, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York has issued subpoenas connected to James’ lawsuit against Trump and his company, as well as her separate case against the National Rifle Association.

The subpoenas are reportedly part of a Department of Justice investigation examining whether James’ actions amounted to civil rights violations.

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Speaking on Chris Jansing Reports, Cevallos emphasized the seriousness of the situation.

“There is nothing scarier for a citizen [than] to get a subpoena or find out that they’re being investigated by a federal criminal grand jury. It’s terrifying. And here’s why: Grand jury investigations sweep broadly,” Cevallos said.

“They gather terabytes of information. And they’re very efficient at going through it. And the problem there for people is that they may be investigating issue number one and then stumble across never before known issue number two when going through all those documents,” he continued.

Cevallos noted that such investigations can uncover unrelated information that prosecutors may choose to pursue.

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“That is why if somebody is the subject, the target, of a grand jury investigation, that is not a good sign,” he said.

“So given that the federal government has such tremendous power to investigate, Letitia James should be very concerned. Not that she necessarily did anything wrong, but because that kind of scrutiny of financial records, of business records, everything going back probably years, might yield something that the government finds interesting.”

James, who campaigned for attorney general in 2018 with a pledge to investigate Trump, filed suit against him in September 2022.

She accused the president of inflating the value of real estate holdings to secure more favorable loan terms.

In February 2024, James secured a court ruling ordering Trump to pay $354 million in penalties, with interest and other costs pushing the total to over $450 million.

James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, told The New York Times that the reported federal probe into her civil fraud case represents “the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign.”

“Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration,” Lowell said.

“If prosecutors carry out this improper tactic and are genuinely interested in the truth, we are ready and waiting with facts and the law.”

Separately, The New York Times reported that the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York opened a formal investigation into James on May 8 over allegations of mortgage fraud. James has denied wrongdoing and characterized the investigation as retaliation for her pursuit of Trump in court.