Among those who were busted during an anti-Israel protest at Columbia University on Thursday, April 18, were a number of members of the upper crust of the city, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, the daughter a UPS executive and an intern in the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James. Such is what was reported by the New York Post in a “deep-dive” into the backgrounds of those involved.
As background, on Thursday, police officers were sent in to clear out a pro-Palestine encampment erected on Columbia University’s campus. In clearing it out, they arrested more than 100 demonstrators involved in the encampment. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, commenting on why the protesters needed to be removed, “Students have a right to free speech, but do not have a right to violate university policies and disrupt learning on campus.”
Reporting on the AG James connection, the New York Post reported that one of those involved in the dramatic Columbia University protest was a former intern in AG James’ office. Noting as much, the New York Post said:
Then there’s Avery Reed, a former summer intern for Letitia James who also worked part-time on “gender equality” for the Biden-Harris campaign in 2021 in Florida.
According to her LinkedIn, she hosts the podcast of the Columbia Daily Spectator, and in 2018 sat on a panel at Guild Hall in East Hampton alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The AG James connection drew the attention of many given her case against former President Donald Trump, with many on the right alleging that her office was biased against the former president because of his political stances, which conflict with the alleged leftist bias of the AG’s office, a political inclination that some argue was highlighted by Reed’s involvement in the protest.
In January of 2024, during his trial over civil fraud alleged by AG James, Trump argued that she was biased and out to get him, saying, in part, “They want to make sure I never win again. The [attorney general] hates Trump … and if I can’t talk about that it’s a disservice.” He added, “We have a situation where I am an innocent man . . . I’m being persecuted by someone running for office and I think you have to go outside the bounds.”
Similarly, posting on Truth Social in March, Trump wrote, “The only FRAUD in the Peekaboo James case, our failed and disgusting New York State Attorney General, was her convincing ‘Judge’ Arthur Engoron to put a value on Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, of just $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount.”
He continued, “This was fraudulently and illegally done, working closely together in a corrupt Communist system, to set their NARRATIVE after learning that their Values and Facts were completely wrong. Businesses will flee the State as Migrant Crime and Violence continues to flourish. I paid $300,000,000 in Taxes, and this is what I get. WITCH HUNT!!!”
Further, AG James was accused of anti-Trump bias over resurfaced comments she made in which she said she would “get” Trump. Posting about her on X in 2018, Trump said, “the new AG, who is now being replaced by yet another AG (who openly campaigned on a GET TRUMP agenda), does little else but rant, rave & politic against me. Will never be treated fairly by these people – a total double standard of ‘justice.’” Watch footage of her pledging to “get” Trump here:
In any case, the former intern’s involvement in the chaotic Columbia protest wasn’t the only incident to hit her office recently. It was also embarrassed by one of her assistants facing a criminal tampering charge over alleged vandalism.
Featured image credit: By Thomas Good – Thomas Good / Next Left Notes, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5246174
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