The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Letitia James Is a Victim of Her Own Actions—Not a Trump ‘Revenge Tour'

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Attorney General of the State of New York, Letitia James, she's the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, remember of the entire state of New York, and she's been indicted by the federal Trump DOJ. And the charges are varied. She bought a property in Maryland, and that property she declared on a federal form to obtain a mortgage and also state on taxes. She said that that in one case would be her principal residence, and another that it would be perhaps a second home and not renting.

Starting point is 00:00:30 So what's going on is that when somebody does a wrong, do you forget it and just say, let's move on? Because if we don't, we'll enter a cycle of ruinous tit-for-tat lawfare. Or do you say, we're going to hold people responsible who broke the law? We're going to stop it because there will be deterrence. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. The Attorney General of the state of New York, Letitia James, has recently been indicted by a grand jury. She's a chief law enforcement officer,

Starting point is 00:01:11 remember of the entire state of New York. And the charges are varied, but they can be boiled down to she bought a property in Maryland. And that property, she declared on a federal form to obtain a mortgage and various other considerations that would also state on taxes. She said that that in one case would be her principal residence. And another case, she said that it would be perhaps a second home and not rented.

Starting point is 00:01:44 And as early as 1983, she had applied for an income property where she maybe mistakenly, but she wrongly described the property's square footage and rooms as a rental. And more importantly, she allegedly put her father. down as her husband in this 1983 application. So all of this is coming to the fore, and she's been indicted by the federal Trump DOJ, and there's been an outcry. And the issue is not, it doesn't seem to me, she has never said that I never, never, never made a mistake on these forms.

Starting point is 00:02:28 I was always totally honest. I think her lawyer said she made some errors, but they were insignific. And by the way, if you're the chief law enforcement officer and Attorney General of New York, you should never be saying anything otherwise that you live in New York. That's by statute. The Attorney General must have her principal residence. There's some indication that she waffled on that as well. So what's going on?

Starting point is 00:02:56 The left says this is Donald Trump's revenge tour, that if it was not Latita James, but it was just some other person, the federal government probably would not have looked at it. That's probably true. But on the other hand, Latita James, who ran for the attorney generalship in 2018, ran expressively on a promise to get then-President Donald Trump. She even said, I have my eye on Trump Tower. And by 2022, when she ran for re-election, she ran on a promise to get Donald Trump. It was a racialized campaign.

Starting point is 00:03:38 She mentioned his gender, the fact that he was white, she whipped up crowds, and she bragged to Al Sharpton that she was going to get Donald Trump. This was the chief law enforcement officer of New York. So when she filed suit in the courtroom of Judge Ingoron, a well-known liberal justice, She got a New York jury to convict Donald Trump, and it was an outrageous settlement. And at one point, the fine was $500 million, $500 million, half a billion dollars. That was a crippling fine, and it was never heard of. And remember, when she did file this suit against Donald Trump, which was eventually challenged

Starting point is 00:04:21 and at a higher court and all but thrown out, the gist of the case. was that he had overvalued a real estate property and unlawfully filled out forms that inflated the value, even though the Deutsche Bank who had issued the loan had no disagreement about the value of the collateral property, had no problem that the loan was paid on time, if not early, and in full to the profit of the Deutsche Bank. So there were no victims in this.

Starting point is 00:04:55 No one was complaining. And yet she pursued it. What can we conclude? On the one hand, let's take the left view very quickly that this is retribution, it's tit for tat, and if we continue this cycle, we're going to descend into a third world country status where every time a particular party takes over the control of the White House, they're going to punish their predecessors of the other party. That's something that we should worry about.

Starting point is 00:05:26 But on the other hand, we saw with Alvin Bragg and Latita James and Fannie Willis and Jack Smith a miscarriage of justice. We all knew that those charges that these four prosecutors filed, A, would have never been filed had Donald Trump said he was not going to run again. B, they will never be filed against any other politician, no doubt. and see if Donald Trump just said that he was going to run, but he decided he was a rhino or he was left-wing, and he agreed with Letitia James' political views, he probably would have got off. He would never been indicted. And you can dittle the same attitude from Judge Ingoron. So do you just let that all slide, or do you look at what Leticia Dames has allegedly done?

Starting point is 00:06:18 It's just simply a question. Did she say something right in writing on a form that was a lie? And did she do that as the Attorney General of New York? So yes, they probably gave her inordinate attention given what she had done in the past. But on the other hand, you give inordinate intention not just to your political enemies that have hurt you, but more importantly to high officials. If she was a campaign flack, if she was the head of the DNC, it would be one thing. But the Attorney General of New York is a chief law enforcement officer of a huge and important state, and she's got to be above suspicion. The irony is that in many of the commentaries about this indictment, people are using the very words that she used to remind people that Donald Trump should not be above the law. There's a final question, and that is how do you end it all? How do you end tit for tat or lawfare against Democrats or Republicans? Do you just allow all of these things that went on? Or do you remind the left that everybody is human? And if you really do want to fabricate charges, you better be above suspicion. Because unlike Donald Trump's Latita James indictment, This is not involving anywhere the amount of financial loss, her case.

Starting point is 00:07:53 But it's a clear-cut case. She either lied on forms or she didn't. If she did, she's culpable. And she should be prosecuted and convicted if she's culpable. In the case of Donald Trump, I don't think anybody left or right thought that he had done anything wrong. In fact, some of the properties that he listed were more valuable than even he. he listed. So is it, when somebody does a wrong, do you forget it and just say, let's move on? Because if we don't move on, we'll enter a cycle of ruinous tit-for-tat lawfare.

Starting point is 00:08:29 Or do you say, we're going to hold people responsible who broke the law? And yes, we're going to give inordinate attention for those who wage lawfare, but we're going to stop it and remind people, don't do it, not because we believe that they're moral or that they're virtuous, but because there will be deterrence. And if they know, they being people who use lawfare, know that if they were to do it again, it will boomerang, just maybe it would stop. Thank you very much, Victor Davis-Hanson, for The Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to The Daily Signal.

Starting point is 00:09:08 Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more comments. content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansson.com and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.

The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Letitia James Is a Victim of Her Own Actions—Not a Trump ‘Revenge Tour'

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