New York
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President Donald Trump noticed another one of his opponents indicted — however he additionally gave New York Attorney General Letitia James her finest single day of fundraising in a practically 30-year political profession.
A supply acquainted with James’s political operation informed NCS she introduced in $567,000 from over 24,000 donors within the 24 hours after she was indicted Thursday afternoon on felony costs of financial institution fraud and making false statements to a monetary establishment. Most of the fundraising got here in response to emails her political operation was sending out to capitalize on the information, although some donations got here in on their very own.
Her prepared video response to the indictment drew 4.3 million views on X in that very same 24 hours.
Trump had lengthy referred to as for James to be indicted and her crew had lengthy ready for it. In the instant aftermath of the announcement, nationwide and New York Democrats rushed to support her, led by Zohran Mamdani, whom James has been helping each on the New York City mayoral marketing campaign and in gearing up for governing if he wins.
Shortly after studying of the federal indictment, Mamdani summoned what is usually described because the sisterhood of Black elected officers 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 mentioned at a Friday press convention in Lower Manhattan with a few of these Black feminine officers. “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 in opposition to Mayor Eric Adams to threatening to pull billions in funding from the nation’s largest metropolis if Mamdani wins.
James and Trump have a lengthy historical past, with the state legal professional normal winning a civil fraud case against Trump and a roughly $500 million penalty that was later struck down by an appeals courtroom.
So do James and Andrew Cuomo, now operating in opposition to Mamdani as an unbiased mayoral candidate with Trump’s implicit support. James led the investigation and release of a report into sexual misconduct allegations that finally 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 publish on X Thursday night time decrying partisanship within the justice system after the indictment was introduced.
“Her name is Tish James,” mentioned Adrienne Adams, town council speaker who additionally ran within the Democratic main. “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 prime aides, a few of whom labored for him within the governor’s workplace and now on his mayoral marketing campaign, nonetheless harbor deep resentment in the direction of James. In current months, Cuomo has described the investigation led by James’ workplace as “politically motivated.”
The state of New York has spent more than $20.5 million for the authorized protection of Cuomo and a number of officers who labored within the government chamber from three ex-employees who’ve sued them.
“Sir, my message to you is we need to meet this moment,” mentioned 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.”
Councilwoman Crystal Hudson, a Democrat who represents the identical Brooklyn district James represented within the City Council when she was first elected to public workplace greater than twenty years in the past, highlighted the exodus of Black girls from the workforce since Trump’s election and recommended 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 informed NCS.
Hours after Mamdani’s rally, Cuomo issued a new assertion calling for common condemnation of politicizing the justice system. The assertion included a point out of James however mentioned Cuomo too had been the sufferer of politically motivated investigations.
“The weaponization and politicization of the justice system is wrong no matter which side you are on — period,” Cuomo mentioned within the assertion. “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 mentioned he had spoken to James shortly after the indictment grew to become public to reassure her of the support she had.
“She told me, ‘Don’t worry about me,’” Mamdani mentioned. “That’s indicative of an attorney general who has spent all of her time worrying about the people of the state.”