A New York prosecutor has accused state Attorney General Letitia James’ office of instructing employees to seek out potential crimes involving President Donald Trump and organizations associated with him, according to a new report involving an internal email that was allegedly later deleted from agency servers.
The allegations center on Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld, a prosecutor in the New York Attorney General’s Investor Protection Bureau. According to the Times Union, Wiesenfeld sent the email concerning directives he said came from Shamiso Maswoswe, who heads the bureau. The newspaper reported that the message was subsequently removed from the office’s servers. James’ office has characterized the dispute as a personnel matter and denied that individuals are targeted because of their political views.
According to the Times Union, Wiesenfeld claimed Maswoswe had instructed him to investigate “Trump himself, Truth Social, Hewlett Packard (DOJ approved merger)… without having a credible reason for targeting [these] organizations and individuals.”
Maswoswe previously served as a trial attorney with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section beginning in January 2016 and remained there until she was terminated in December 2017, during Trump’s first term in office. She later sued the Justice Department in February 2021, alleging that her dismissal was improper and that she had faced discrimination related to her race, pregnancy and responsibilities as a caregiver.
The controversy erupted after Wiesenfeld reportedly sent an email throughout the attorney general’s office on Friday alleging that employees had been instructed “to find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump,” according to the Times Union.
That message was subsequently allegedly removed from the office’s servers. James’ general counsel, Kumiki Gibson, then reportedly circulated another email informing employees that the situation was an “internal” matter and assuring them that no employees were “in danger,” according to the report.
“This is a personnel matter. The Office of the Attorney General is committed to upholding New York’s laws and protecting the rights and freedoms of all New Yorkers, regardless of political beliefs. We strongly reject any assertion to the contrary,” a spokesperson for the Office of the New York Attorney General told Fox News Digital.
The New York Post reported that Wiesenfeld was subsequently placed on paid administrative leave.
The White House seized on the allegations as further evidence of what it described as politically motivated use of the legal system against Trump and those associated with him.
“This is more proof of the weaponization of the justice system by Letitia James to target President Trump and her political opponents. The far-left Democrats lawfare against President Trump, his family, and allies must stop,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.
Maswoswe’s previous dispute with the Justice Department began before she joined James’ office in February 2022. She filed her discrimination lawsuit against the DOJ in February 2021.
In that complaint, Maswoswe alleged that her 2017 firing during the Trump administration was unjust and that she had been discriminated against because she is Black and had a child.
Court documents show that Maswoswe, who is of Zimbabwean descent, accused the Justice Department of racial discrimination and alleged that she had faced scrutiny related to her pregnancy, breastfeeding and caregiving obligations. She sought reinstatement to her position along with back pay and damages.
The dispute was settled in 2023, with Maswoswe receiving $795,000 to resolve the claims connected to her employment and lawsuit.
The Justice Department expressly denied the truth of Maswoswe’s allegations. The settlement agreement characterized the payment as a compromise resolving disputed claims rather than an admission that discrimination or retaliation had taken place.
James has long been one of Trump’s most prominent legal and political adversaries. After campaigning on promises to scrutinize Trump’s business dealings, she brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and the Trump Organization in 2022.
That case initially produced financial penalties exceeding $450 million. An appeals court subsequently left Trump’s liability finding in place while throwing out the monetary penalty.
{Matzav.com}
