Trump accuses NY AG of 'weaponizing' office against him

Former President Trump blasted New York's attorney general for trying to "politically weaponize her position" instead of "exemplifying impartiality and protecting the interests of all New Yorkers" as her office conducts multiple investigations into him and his company.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is seeking a deposition from Trump and moving to subpoena him as part of a civil investigation into alleged fraud within the Trump Organization, according to reports.

James and the Manhattan district attorney's office are also conducting a separate joint criminal probe into whether Trump lowered property values on his forms for tax agents but raised them to look better for financial lenders.

Trump alleged in a statement on Wednesday that James was committing "prosecutorial misconduct" and wasting her time by continuing a "witch hunt against the Republican Party and me."

Trump added that "she should focus her attention on helping to resurrect the once Great State of New York where crime and poverty continue to wreak havoc, with murder, rape, drug sales, and just about every other form of crime at record levels, and now with a just-announced highest unemployment rate in the Nation."

The former president said New York City is "dying before our very eyes, and all the Democrat prosecutors are focused on is how we can get and punish Donald Trump, who many would say has done, over the years, a spectacular job for New York!"

Trump also took a hit at James in the statement for suspending her campaign for governor against Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in what James said was a "move to focus on her current position."

He added that "while she pretends that she suspended her short-lived campaign for New York Governor to go after me, she conveniently fails to mention that she couldn't garner any support and her poll numbers were abysmal - she had no chance of even coming close to winning."

He further said that James would have lost to Hochul in "what would have been a massive landslide" and emphasized that "she didn't drop out of the race for a higher purpose, or to 'finish existing business' (I wonder what that would be?)."

Additionally, Trump said James dropped out because her campaign was "a complete failure" and possibly because "the citizens of New York saw how unfairly and viciously she and other highly partisan New York Democrat prosecutors were treating President Donald J. Trump."

James did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.

The New York Times reported last week that James's office is seeking an interview with the former president as soon as Jan. 7 as part of the civil inquiry into the Trump Organization's business practices.