Things got entertaining on Tuesday, May 20, when New York Attorney General Letitia James had a hilarious on-stage meltdown at a bigwig meeting in New York City during which she both rambled about how awful the DOJ’s case against her for mortgage fraud is and about all the cases she has thrown against President Trump and his administration. The incident came during her keynote speech at the Association for a Better New York’s “Power Breakfast.”
As background, the case against AG James was sparked by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte, who requested the DOJ bring charges against James in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche. Beginning it, Director Pulte said that NY AG James was jeopardizing the soundness of the FHFA, writing that NY AG James’s “misconduct jeopardizes the safety and soundness of FHFA’s regulated entities and the security and stability of the U.S. mortgage market.”
Giving a few examples of her allegedly illegal behavior, Pulte said, “Based on media reports, Ms. Letitia James has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms. This has potentially included 1) falsifying residence status for a Norfolk, Virginia-based home in order to secure a lower mortgage rate and 2) misrepresenting property descriptions to meet stringent requirements for government backed loans and government assistance.” The DOJ then brought a case based on those allegations.
James, for her part, has insisted that the allegations are baseless, claiming during the event that the case is “nothing more than retribution.” She also bragged about the number of things she has thrown against the Trump Administration, saying, “As of today, we have filed 21, 22, 23 lawsuits against this administration.”
Not done, she went to list off how those two dozen suits covered everything from birthright citizenship to funding of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Then, turning to attacking the Trump Administration for its stance on illegal immigration, James snapped that prosecuting illegal aliens is “a blemish of moral fiber on our nation.” She went on to claim that it “runs counter to the poetry on the Statue of Liberty, which welcomes immigrants to our shores seeking a better life.”
After her speech, she was approached by the New York Post and asked about the mortgage fraud case. Replying, she rambled, snapping, “I don’t know, they keep saying they’re investigating me — as you know we filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and his family. We secured a $454 million judgment against it, which is on appeal.”
Continuing, she insisted that it was “baseless” and was purely an act of retribution brought by Trump because of the judgment she won against him, saying, “I have no idea when that case will be decided. This investigation into me is nothing more than retribution. It’s baseless.”
"*" indicates required fields
Admitting to make a civil error, the New York Post reports, she said, “But prior to that I had indicated to the mortgage broker that, in fact, in bold capital letters, that I am not a resident of Virginia and never will be.” She then added, “They just took the power of attorney and they’re using that as a basis for enforcement for their investigation, when in reality, the power of attorney was never used to determine my eligibility for a mortgage for my niece for a home in the state of Virginia. My niece, who has two children — I wanted her to have a home.”
Watch her meltdown during the speech here:
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