UPDATE: Beginning Monday, May 14, 2025, we begin periodic FOIL requests to demand transparency about Letitia James’ taxpayer-funded $10 million legal defense fund. Follow this investigation at WhiteCollarFraud.com as we publish all responses.
The Double Ask
While New York Attorney General Letitia James aggressively solicits $25 donations to “fight Trump’s dangerous agenda,” she’s quietly secured something far more valuable: $10 million of your tax dollars to fund her personal legal defense. This provision was quietly tucked into the 2025 state budget—conveniently passed as James faces a federal investigation for mortgage fraud, financial disclosure failures, and residency misrepresentations.
Her campaign page frames the donation as a patriotic duty: “Donald Trump and Elon Musk are attacking our democracy.” What it doesn’t say? You’re already paying for her lawyers.
Last Thursday’s Text: Send $25 Now
Just days ago, on May 9, 2025, James’ campaign team blasted out an urgent fundraising text message:
“Just yesterday, Trump attacked me on live TV in the Oval Office… This is a coordinated effort… Can you rush a $25 donation or more right now to help me defend the rule of law?”
The urgency was clear—but so was the omission: no mention that taxpayers have already committed $10 million to her legal defense.
A Tale of Two Funds
What she’s asking for: Private donations via ActBlue, featuring emotional appeals, highlighted donation buttons, and doomsday rhetoric about “defending democracy.”
What she already has: A $10 million taxpayer-funded defense fund with:
- No mandatory reporting of expenditures
- No contracts, invoices, or reimbursement records published by default
- No built-in transparency—only what the public forces through FOIL requests
- What critics have aptly described as a “slush fund”
The Allegations She’s Facing
The Virginia Residency Declaration
On August 17, 2023, Letitia James signed a sworn Specific Power of Attorney declaring her intention to make 604 Sterling Street in Norfolk, Virginia her “principal residence.” This legal declaration was submitted to secure a federally related mortgage loan and was material to the underwriting process—directly contradicting her earlier written statements from August 3, 2023, in which she claimed the property would not be her primary residence.
This last-minute change wasn’t just paperwork—it secured favorable loan terms reserved exclusively for owner-occupants, including a reduced interest rate and lower down payment threshold. Yet just 45 days later, James was in Manhattan launching the high-profile Trump civil fraud trial, with no indication she had relocated or intended to relocate to Virginia as sworn.
The mortgage closed with these occupancy-based benefits intact. No correction was ever filed. Under New York’s Public Officers Law, this declaration alone may have legally disqualified her from continuing to serve as Attorney General, as it represents a formal declaration of intent to establish residency outside New York state. Read the declaration here.
These actions may constitute mortgage fraud—using materially false representations via mail and electronic communications to secure financial benefits she wasn’t entitled to receive.
The Fifth Unit That Disappears on Paper
For over 20 years, James has described her Brooklyn brownstone as a “4-family” property. But the city has classified it as a 5-family dwelling since 2001—and six electric meters and 5 doorbells still serve the building. That false unit count helped her qualify for federal mortgage relief (HAMP) she wasn’t legally eligible for.
Disappearing Loans
Her state financial disclosures show phantom loans, disappearing HELOCs, and mysterious reclassifications—while actual recorded mortgages went unreported. These omissions violate disclosure laws that James herself enforces.
The Private Jet Loophole
Between 2020 and 2021, James’s office spent $41,807 of taxpayer money on private charter flights—without contracts or justification. The flights coincided with campaign events in places like Martha’s Vineyard and Puerto Rico. When taxpayer funding for these flights ended in December 2021, her campaign simply paid the same charter company, Venture Jets, another $12,000 in May 2022.
Irony, in Fine Print
The same ActBlue donation page that begs for help includes a curious disclaimer:
“I nor any members of my immediate family… are the subject of an investigation or prosecution (enforcement actions) of alleged violations of law by the NYS Attorney General’s office…”
So if you’re under investigation, you can’t donate to James—but she can fundraise while under federal investigation herself.
- Double standard: James prohibits donations from those under her investigation, while actively soliciting funds as she faces a DOJ criminal inquiry for mortgage fraud and financial disclosure violations.
Taxpayer Money Demands Transparency
James won a $355 million judgment against Trump by arguing he misrepresented real estate assets. Now, her own history of undisclosed mortgages, altered documents, and false filings is under DOJ scrutiny. But she’s asking the public for $25—and may already be billing her defense to them without oversight.
Fortunately, New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) guarantees your right to demand:
- Legal invoices
- Retainer agreements
- Reimbursement documentation
Courts have ruled repeatedly that legal billing records paid with public funds are public records. This applies to James too—no exceptions.
The Daily FOIL Project Begins
We will publish the results of FOIL requests as they are complied with, seeking:
- All disbursements from the $10M legal defense fund
- All invoices submitted for reimbursement
- Any attempt to hide those records from public view
Want to File Your Own?
Submit your FOIL request through the Attorney General’s and State Comptroller’s official portals:
- Attorney General’s Office: https://nyag.mycusthelp.com/
- Office of the State Comptroller: https://www.osc.ny.gov/help/foil
Request text: “Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I request copies of all invoices, contracts, retainer agreements, and reimbursement documents related to legal defense services provided to Attorney General Letitia James under the $10 million taxpayer-funded legal defense fund authorized in the FY2025 State Budget.”
The question isn’t whether Letitia James can raise $25 to defend democracy—it’s whether her $10 million taxpayer defense fund is undermining it.
Written by,
Sam Antar
© 2025 Sam Antar. All rights reserved.