A group of some of New York’s most influential female elected officials joined Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani on Friday to slam President Trump’s Justice Department for indicting state Attorney General Letitia James.
At the same time, the group also condemned mayoral hopeful and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for refusing to name either the president or New York’s top law enforcement official in his Oct. 9 statement, shortly after news broke of the indictment. After the press conference on Friday, Cuomo issued a statement in which he condemned the apparent weaponization of the Trump Justice Department against James, whom he mentioned by name.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist Queens Assembly member, gathered on Oct. 10 with fellow Democratic pols, including Rep. Nydia Velázquez (Brooklyn/Queens), City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn in Manhattan’s Foley Square to denounce James’ indictment.
Trump’s Justice Department hit New York’s AG, one of his long-time enemies, with bank fraud and false statement charges in the Eastern District of Virginia late Thursday afternoon. James herself called the case a “desperate weaponization of our justice system” and “baseless.”
James drew Trump’s ire after her office successfully won a civil fraud case against him and his family last year. She has also launched or participated in numerous federal lawsuits seeking to block Trump administration actions that would, among other things, eliminate rights to gender-affirming care, defund state government and deport immigrants with temporary protected status.
‘An act of political retribution’
During the event, Mamdani assailed the indictment as a “blatant miscarriage of justice” and an “act of political retribution.” He was referring to the charges being brought by a federal prosecutor handpicked by Trump after other DOJ attorneys refused to sign off on them, and the president issued a series of public statements on his desire for James to be indicted.
The Democratic nominee charged that instead of Trump delivering on one of his core campaign promises in last year’s presidential election, to bring costs down, the president has instead focused on retribution against his political foes.
“He has focused all of his time and energy on punishment and cruelty,” Mamdani said of Trump. “Punishing his political enemies. A prosecution of Tish James, we have to understand, does not just occur in a vacuum. It occurs within a context of the weaponization of our justice system, an attack on our democracy, and the result of a broken political system that empowers lawless billionaires to rule alongside corrupt politicians.”
The indictment alleges that James falsely listed a home she owns in Norfolk, VA, as a secondary residence on loan documents, while using it as a rental property instead. The alleged misrepresentation saved James $19,000, the indictment says.
Velázquez said the case has “no merit” and that its existence should “alarm every American who cares for our democracy.”
“This prosecution is part of a much larger authoritarian agenda that includes militarizing the National Guard, silencing free speech, and targeting political opponents,” Velázquez said. “We have to stand up to this. Tish James stood up. And now we must stand with her.”
Challenging Cuomo’s response to James indictment
However, Mamdani, along with the other pols present, alleged that one person is clearly not standing up for James: Andrew Cuomo.
They blasted the former governor for issuing a statement on Thursday night that condemned the “politicization of law enforcement,” but notably did not mention James’ or Trump’s names. Cuomo and James have longstanding bad blood as she authored a 2021 report that found he sexually harassed about a dozen women, accusations he denies.
Mamdani, who has alleged that Cuomo is coordinating with Trump in order to win the mayoral race, asked, “If you cannot say Donald Trump’s name today, how will you stand up to him tomorrow?”
Speaker Adams, a close ally of James, praised Mamdani for convening the group of women lawmakers together to support the AG, while also calling out Cuomo.
“Andrew Cuomo, if you are too afraid to speak her name, let me give you a helping hand. Her name is Tish James,” the speaker said. “She saw through you in the beginning, and she saw through you in the end. And at the end of both spectrums, Donald Trump is still pulling the strings in your vocal chords.”
In response, Cuomo issued a new statement on Friday, including both James’ and Trump’s names. He said the weaponization of the justice system is “wrong when Trump’s DOJ does it or when a Democrat does it, and it must be universally condemned” — a line that could be referencing the report James issued on Cuomo’s alleged sexual misconduct.
“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,” Cuomo said, referring to the Trump DOJ’s recent indictment of Comey. “It is part of why people have lost faith in the justice system, the cornerstone of our democracy.”
