In Breaking the Law, my book on the lawfare against Donald Trump and his supporters, which was released this week, I called for Letitia “Tish” James to be prosecuted for conspiracy against rights.
The Department of Justice announced on Friday that they are investigating James for violating Donald Trump’s civil rights when she engaged in what the DOJ calls the “deprivation of rights” in targeting Trump.
Outstanding.
Conspiracy against rights refers to a federal crime in the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 241, which states that it is illegal for people to “conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same.”
As much as anyone profiled in Breaking the Law, Tish James appears to have engaged in this exact behavior toward Donald Trump. Her suit was the most militant lawfare I encountered during my year of investigative research for the book.
As I noted earlier this week:
Letitia “Tish” James is a partisan Democrat who ran and won her race for New York Attorney General specifically to try to destroy Trump. She is one of the most open and public practitioners of lawfare featured in the book. She once told a group of New York Democrats that “I look forward to going into the office of the Attorney General every day, suing [Trump], and then going home.” She uses the law to advance political goals, and she doesn’t hide that fact. Despite rising crime in New York during her tenure as state AG, she seems entirely fixated on getting Trump.
Here are eight clear examples that prove James had no intention of ever affording President Trump equal protection under the law.
1. Targeted Prosecution
“We’re going to definitely sue him. We’re going to be a real pain in the ass. He’s going to know my name personally.” That’s what James said when assuming office, on video. She didn’t take long to make good on that promise. “We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well,” she stated a month after the election. This is the definition of a witch hunt.
In fact, James barely even paid lip service to addressing the rising criminality in New York so that she could stay narrowly focused on Trump (and hosting drag story hour read-a-thons).
“The number one issue in this country is defeating Donald Trump. Nothing else matters,” James said.
That’s saying the quiet part out loud.
New York State’s recently elected Attorney General Letitia James takes the oath of office on January 1, 2019, on Ellis Island in New York City. (Andrew Lichtenstein/ Corbis via Getty Images)
2. She Prosecuted a Victimless (Non-)Crime
The crux of James’s suit against the Trumps was that they undervalued properties to gain better rates on loans, insurance policies, and tax rates. Who was the victim here of the evil Trump Organization? Apparently, it was corporations, specifically multibillion-dollar financial institutions that loaned money to the Trump family.
So, what did these corporations say when they filed complaints about Trump? Ah! But there were no complaints. The supposedly victimized banks and lenders liked working with the Trump Organization, so far as I can tell. It was James who brought the case on behalf of financial institutions that never claimed for a moment to be harmed.
The only harm in a business transaction is financial harm, and representatives of these institutions got onto the witness stand and under oath said they were not harmed and did not suffer.
This was literally unprecedented. It was the first time in state history that someone was accused of fraud even though no one believed that they had been harmed.
3. Blatantly Undervaluing Mar-a-Lago to Justify Abuse
Much of the case hinged on the valuation of Trump’s legendary Mar- a-Lago property in Florida. The resort and club, which is a National Historic Landmark and has been Trump’s primary residence since 2019, was assessed a value in the range of $18 million to $28 million between 2011 and 2021. The court insisted these weren’t his figures, but the valuation of a basic Palm Beach assessment. The appraiser’s office is tasked with assessing property value for taxation purpose. Trump valued Mar-a-Lago as high as $739 million, according to the suit, which the judge declared was “an overvaluation of at least 2,300%, compared to the assessor’s appraisal.” Trump, on the other hand, testified that he believed the property is worth between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.
An aerial view of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as seen on September 14, 2022, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
One-acre properties in the area routinely hit the real estate market in the $40 million price range, and two-acre homes in the area often are priced between $150 million and $200 million. Mar-a-Lago isn’t merely a unique historic landmark; it is 17 acres of beachfront property. Despite the sheer magnitude and the historical significance of the location, James and company advanced the opinion it was worth only a fraction of properties a tenth its size.
The court’s valuation of Mar-a-Lago was perhaps 1/50th its actual worth. This is “criminal” in the figurative sense, perhaps the literal sense too.
4. Illicit White House Visits
Publicly available records show that Tish James visited the Biden White House several times during the investigation and trial. First, on April 8, 2022, for a celebration of Ketanji Brown Jackson; then on July 18, 2022, to meet with Kamala Harris along with other attorneys general; and then on August 31, 2023, for an event honoring black women. It is possible but unknown at this time if she discussed Trump’s trial during these visits.
I spoke to President Trump about these visits, and he is of the belief that she was coordinating with the Biden White House about the case.
This ought to be a major focus of the DOJ’s investigation.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Vice President Kamala Harris attend a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in New York City on September 11, 2023. (BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
5. A Criminal Trial in Civil Court
One of the dead giveaways that Tish James was not even attempting to play fair was that she carried out the case as if it were taking place in a criminal court and the Trump family were crooks—despite the fact that the case was filed in civil court.
There are several distinctions between civil and criminal law, but the most relevant here is that most criminal cases are prosecuted by officials who represent a state, country, or some other jurisdiction. Civil cases are typically brought by an aggrieved party who believes that they are the victim of some wrongdoing. In this instance, the chief law enforcement officer for New York brought a civil case, not a criminal one, against Trump.
She did that because there was no criminal wrongdoing alleged.
The banks regarded Trump as a “whale,” an ideal business partner. He made every payment on time. He paid every dollar owed. The financial institutions made every nickel they expected to make from their dealings with him. Trump told me he even had a tendency to pay back loans early, even if he incurred penalties, ensuring that banks were happy with their relationship.
Yet Tish James took the position that Trump had conned them. The tenor of the suit suggested that he was an evildoer and needed to be punished.
Former President Donald Trump sits with his attorneys during his civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James at a Manhattan courthouse in New York City on October 2, 2023. (BRENDAN MCDERMID/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
6. Creating a New Crime to Get Trump
Tish James was essentially creating a law out of whole cloth. She relied on New York Executive Law §63(12), which gives the authority broad power to investigate and prosecute civil fraud against consumers. It was typically used to go after con men who swindled sweet little grannies out of their savings, not real estate developers who sign agreements with sophisticated banks — banks who then told the court that they received every dime they were due on time and that they would do business with Trump again.
“They tried me on a statute like it was consumer fraud, like I stole a refrigerator,” Trump told me in an exclusive interview.
The law was applied uniquely—and more harshly—than ever before.
7. Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Trump was initially assessed a $464 million fine for this victimless (non-)crime. This is not just confiscatory, it’s appallingly excessive.
The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division—the intermediate court in New York— reduced his bond to $175 million. As of March 2025 (when I last interviewed President Trump), they still had his money.
Trump ought to pursue the appeal all the way to our nation’s top court. At a minimum, I expect the Supreme Court to rule that penalizing him half a billion dollars for a victimless violation violates the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause. “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” the amendment reads. Notice how the language does not specify whether the excessive fine is related to a criminal or a civil matter, so Trump’s attorneys can certainly use this argument.
No other president in U.S. history could have survived this type of penalty. It is the definition of cruel and unusual.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sits in the courtroom for the civil trial of former President Donald Trump at New York State Supreme Court on October 18, 2023 in New York City. (Jeenah Moon-Pool/Getty Images)
8. Election Interference
The fact that this case was allowed to go on is outrageous. The fact that it took place during the middle of a presidential election is a national disgrace.
This New York attorney general has always sought to destroy Trump and is clearly abusing her power to do so. (The judge in this juryless case does not seem to be operating on a rational plane. More on that in my book.)
As I concluded in Breaking the Law:
The most powerful law enforcement officer in a massively powerful state used her power to target and attempt to character-assassinate one of the state’s most successful residents on naked political grounds. It wasn’t merely excessive; this was a low moment for our country.
Justice must be served, and Trump must win his appeal.
Then Tish James ought to be prosecuted for conspiracy against rights.
I’m heartened to learn that the DOJ intends to hold James accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
The investigations should then extend far beyond James and Jack Smith. Only then can we begin to dismantle the lawfare superstructure.
As Tish James is fond of saying herself, “[N]o one is above the law.”
This article was adapted from portions of Breaking the Law.
Breaking the Law: Exposing the Weaponization of America’s Legal System Against Donald Trump, which has been hailed by President Trump as a “must read” book, is available in hardcover, eReader format, and as an audiobook read by the author himself.
Alex Marlow is the editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, a two-time New York Times bestselling author, and the host of “The Alex Marlow Show” podcast produced weekdays by Breitbart News and Salem Podcast Network. You can subscribe to the podcast on YouTube, Rumble, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. You can follow Alex on Facebook, Instagram, and X at @AlexMarlow.
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