On Thursday, GWU Law Professor Jonathan Turley appeared on Fox Business, suggesting that there should be “breath-taking sarcasm” in the legal defense of New York Attorney General Letitia James. Federal authorities are currently investigating her for allegedly forging mortgage documents.
During his appearance on “Editing the Evening,” Turley highlighted what he sees as a glaring double standard. He noted that James had made appeals for generosity that she previously denied to former President Donald Trump. “Karma is being crushed here,” he remarked, expressing surprise at James’ team claiming that her actions were wrongful given Trump’s history of campaigning against his adversaries. “It’s astonishing to hear those words from her staff. She ran her campaign with the explicit aim to bring down Trump, no matter the means,” he added.
Turley went on to dissect the contradictions in James’ legal strategy. According to him, her defense now claims that some inconsistencies in submitted documents—such as the number of units detailed—should be dismissed as simple errors or misunderstandings.
He pointed out that while James’ defense team attributes certain discrepancies to her main residence being listed by other signatories, there’s a fundamental contradiction. He characterized this as an ironic defense. “If the banks simply looked into this, they’d see these are merely units,” he commented.
Turley stressed that James seems to be leaning toward arguments she once rejected, saying, “It’s ironic that she denied Trump the same understanding she’s now pursuing. She claimed every document signed in her name was as good as his, insisting that accuracy was paramount.”
In her 2018 campaign, James pledged to investigate Trump, and she’s since filed lawsuits alleging that he inflated property values and filed a separate case against the Department of Health and Human Services for cutting funds aimed at him. Currently, she faces serious allegations regarding the forgery of her mortgage application—a situation that reportedly gained traction due in part to the investigative work of reporters from the Daily Caller News Foundation, who questioned James’ official statements and unearthed details about the property in question.
