Hartford, CT — In an unusual and powerful show of unity, 22 state attorneys general from various parts of the United States released a collective statement on Monday denouncing what they characterize as a politically driven and retaliatory prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James by the Trump administration.
Spearheaded by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, this coalition comprises leading legal officials from Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
In the joint statement, the attorneys general decried what they called a dangerous misuse of prosecutorial power following James’s successful civil fraud case against President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, a New York State judge found Trump liable for years of fraudulent business practices—charges brought by James’s office after a lengthy investigation.
Since that ruling, Trump has publicly vowed to seek criminal charges against James, and, according to the attorneys general, has now acted on that threat.
“Mr. Trump has now done just that—demanding an indictment of Attorney General James even though the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, resigned rather than seeking an indictment,” the statement read. “None of us…should stand idly by while justice is upended and this president uses the criminal legal system to pursue his personal vendettas.”
The attorneys general warned that the prosecution of James fits a broader pattern of retaliatory actions by Trump, pointing to recent charges filed against a sitting member of Congress, the former FBI director, and a governor on the Federal Reserve Board—all of whom, they claim, were politically targeted.
“These kinds of prosecutorial abuses are the hallmarks of police states and authoritarian regimes—not America’s democracy,” the coalition stated.
They concluded by pledging support for Attorney General James and vowed to resist what they see as an erosion of the justice system.
“We commit to doing all we can to ensure that the rule of law prevails and to resist the further corrosion of our system of justice,” they said.
Neither the Trump campaign nor the Department of Justice has responded publicly to the allegations raised in the joint statement.
