(The Center Square) — New York Democrats are rallying around indicted Attorney General Letitia James ahead of her arraignment on federal mortgage fraud charges.
James, who was indicted earlier this month by a federal grand jury, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning in the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, where she is expected to plead not guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution.
Gov. Kathy Hochul told a crowd in New York City Thursday night that the state’s Democratic leaders “stand in solidarity” with James and said the charges by the U.S. Department of Justice are an “attack” on the justice system.
“We gather here in solidarity, our elected leaders, labor leaders, community activists, all of you who care deeply about protecting what we care so much about in this country. And that is our democracy and our system of justice,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in remarks. “If they can do this to the attorney general of a state like New York, heaven help the rest of us, cause they can come after anyone.”
Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani also spoke at Thursday night’s rally, calling the Trump administration “authoritarian” by targeting the attorney general for prosecution.
“We know that Donald Trump is coming after her because she did the right thing — she held him to account,” Mandani told the crowd. “She showed that no man, and no wannabe king, is above that law.”
Federal prosecutors allege James falsely claimed on an application for a federally backed mortgage that she would be living in a Norfolk, Virginia, home she bought in 2020 for about $137,000 as a secondary residence, but allegedly used it as an investment property.
The alleged misrepresentation to the bank allowed James to receive a favorable interest rate, saving her nearly $19,000 over the life of the loan, according to the indictment.
James has denied any wrongdoing and claims the charges are a “politically motivated” response to her office’s legal challenges.
James, first elected in 2018, has been a frequent critic of Trump and has filed several multistate lawsuits against the Trump administration over federal immigration policies, rollbacks in federal funding, and worker layoffs and other actions.
That includes a civil fraud trial that ended in a $454 million judgment against the Trump organization and several of its executives, which was recently overturned by a New York appeals court. James has appealed the ruling.
James is the third prominent Trump critic to be arraigned on federal criminal charges in the past three weeks.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said James became Trump’s “enemy” after she prosecuted his family for fraud.
“He made it very very clear he’s going to go after his enemies,” Williams said at Thursday night’s rally. “He made it very very clear he’s going to find somebody who does that, irrespective of whether it is the right thing to do.”
