The New York Times devoted its Friday feature to highlighting the race and sex of several public officials who have opposed President Donald Trump, portraying his legal and political disputes as part of a pattern against “prominent Black women” while downplaying the substance of their investigations and ongoing cases.
The Times article, titled “Letitia James Is Among Prominent Black Women Targeted by Trump,” framed the president’s current and past conflicts around identity. “Among the long list of political adversaries President Trump has targeted in his second term are several Black women in powerful positions,” it began, naming Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Each was described in terms of being a “first” in their respective offices — James as the first woman and first African American elected New York attorney general, Willis as the first woman to serve as district attorney for Fulton County, and Cook as the first black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board — rather than for the legal matters or investigations surrounding them.
The article continued, “The president has denigrated each of them and tried to destroy their ability to work against his interests,” and claimed that Trump’s “singling out of Black women who have crossed him” came as he “fired a series of Black officials” and “banished diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government.”
James was indicted “On bank fraud and false statement charges in Virginia in a case led by a federal prosecutor handpicked by Mr. Trump.” On Thursday, the grand jury indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia after a mortgage fraud investigation. James has denied wrongdoing, maintaining “An error was made when filling out a form related to the home purchase but quickly rectified it.”
Nearly three years earlier, James brought a civil fraud case against Trump, accusing him of overvaluing his assets by more than $2 billion. She won at trial, but a New York appellate court later ruled that the $527 million penalty was “excessive.” Her office has since filed an appeal with the state’s highest court.
Fani Willis was removed from her election case against Trump after Georgia courts found an “appearance of impropriety” arising from her relationship with her lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade. The Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal last month. Willis has faced scrutiny over prior coordination with the Biden White House and the January 6 Committee, as well as allegations of misusing public funds.
Lisa Cook was implicated in mortgage fraud by Federal Housing Finance Agency head Bill Pulte. The Justice Department has since opened a criminal inquiry into those claims. Trump fired Cook in August, invoking “sufficient cause” and stating that her conduct undermined public trust in the Federal Reserve. Cook sued to block her removal, and the Supreme Court has allowed her to remain on the board pending a January hearing.
Trump, meanwhile, has his own pending case against The New York Times. In September, he filed a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against the newspaper, four of its reporters, and publisher Penguin Random House, contending they had “freely lied, smeared, and defamed” him. The suit cites previous Times coverage and an editorial labeling him unfit for office as part of a broader pattern of politically motivated attacks. The paper’s latest story continues that pattern, prioritizing superficiality over the facts.
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