President Donald Trump saw another one of his opponents indicted — but he also gave New York Attorney General Letitia James her best single day of fundraising in a nearly 30-year political career.
A source familiar with James’s political operation told CNN she brought in $567,000 from over 24,000 donors in the 24 hours after she was indicted Thursday afternoon on felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. Most of the fundraising came in response to emails her political operation was sending out to capitalize on the news, though some donations came in on their own.
Her prepared video response to the indictment drew 4.3 million views on X in that same 24 hours.
Trump had long called for James to be indicted and her team had long prepared for it. In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, national and New York Democrats rushed to support her, led by Zohran Mamdani, whom James has been helping both on the New York City mayoral campaign and in gearing up for governing if he wins.
Shortly after learning of the federal indictment, Mamdani summoned what is sometimes described as the sisterhood of Black elected officials in New York City.
“We are standing in front of the same courthouse where Attorney General Tish James did her job, upholding the law and holding Donald Trump accountable,” Mamdani said at a Friday press conference in Lower Manhattan with some of those Black female officials. “This is a blatant miscarriage of justice; this is a shameless act of political retribution.”
A Queens native, Trump and his allies have repeatedly reshaped New York City politics, from moving to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams to threatening to pull billions in funding from the nation’s largest city if Mamdani wins.
A new chapter in the Cuomo-James rivalry
James and Trump have a long history, with the state attorney general winning a civil fraud case against Trump and a roughly $500 million penalty that was later struck down by an appeals court.
So do James and Andrew Cuomo, now running against Mamdani as an independent mayoral candidate with Trump’s implicit support. James led the investigation and release of a report into sexual misconduct allegations that ultimately resulted in Cuomo’s resignation as New York governor. Cuomo insisted when he left office that he felt he had “never crossed the line with anyone.”
Several Mamdani allies ripped into Cuomo for omitting any reference to James in a post on X Thursday night decrying partisanship in the justice system after the indictment was announced.
“Her name is Tish James,” said Adrienne Adams, the city council speaker who also ran in the Democratic primary. “She saw through you in the beginning and she saw through you in the end. At the end of both spectrums, Donald Trump is still pulling the strings on your vocal cords.”
Cuomo and his top aides, some of whom worked for him in the governor’s office and now on his mayoral campaign, still harbor deep resentment towards James. In recent months, Cuomo has described the investigation led by James’ office as “politically motivated.”
The state of New York has spent more than $20.5 million for the legal defense of Cuomo and several officials who worked in the executive chamber from three ex-employees who have sued them.
“Sir, my message to you is we need to meet this moment,” said US Rep. Nydia Velazquez, addressing Cuomo. “That is simply not the energy that we need right now. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for our city and our country.”
Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference in New York City on September 2. – Jeenah Moon/Reuters
Councilwoman Crystal Hudson, a Democrat who represents the same Brooklyn district James represented in the City Council when she was first elected to public office more than two decades ago, highlighted the exodus of Black women from the workforce since Trump’s election and suggested the indictment was racially motivated.
“You have men who quite literally cannot even address the fact that this woman, and specifically a Black woman, is being attacked and maligned the way that Trump is attacking her and maligning her, it speaks volumes,” Hudson told CNN.
Hours after Mamdani’s rally, Cuomo issued a new statement calling for universal condemnation of politicizing the justice system. The statement included a mention of James but said Cuomo too had been the victim of politically motivated investigations.
“The weaponization and politicization of the justice system is wrong no matter which side you are on — period,” Cuomo said in the statement. “I know firsthand as the White House weaponized the DOJ against me when I was governor of New York and three other democratic states during the height of COVID and it’s wrong that it appears to be happening with AG James and Former FBI Director Comey — it is part of why people have lost faith in the Justice system, the cornerstone of our democracy.”
Mamdani said he had spoken to James shortly after the indictment became public to reassure her of the support she had.
“She told me, ‘Don’t worry about me,’” Mamdani said. “That’s indicative of an attorney general who has spent all of her time worrying about the people of the state.”
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