Commentary: VDARE’s Fight Against Letitia James Is Our Fight, Too

New York AG

For all its gesticulations about “free speech,” the conservative mainstream often plays a supporting role in America’s censorship regime. It’s a two-step dance: The Right styles itself as the sworn defender of free speech and the mortal enemy of censorship while simultaneously downplaying or outright ignoring brazen censorship of speech that ventures a bit too far outside the Overton window. By claiming to defend all free speech in principle but only defending some in practice, the Right concedes, by omission, that certain ideas fall outside the bounds of free expression — and that it’s perfectly appropriate (or, at least, not particularly objectionable) to bring the full force of regime power to bear against any individual so unwise as to express them.

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New York AG Letitia James Takes First Step Toward Seizing Trump’s Assets

Letitia James Donald Trump

Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James recently took the first step towards seizing former President Donald Trump’s assets, public records show.

James filed judgements against Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization on March 6 with the clerk’s office in Westchester County, where Trump owns a golf resort and private estate called Seven Springs, according to Bloomberg News. Judge Arthur Engoron issued a judgement in February finding that Trump must pay $454 million in James’ lawsuit, which alleged he perpetuated financial fraud by overestimating the value of his assets to obtain loans.

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Trump PACs Spent More than $50 Million on Legal Bills Last Year

Trump in Court with blowing cash

Former President Donald Trump’s political actions committees paid more than $50 million in legal bills last year, according to his latest campaign finance disclosures. 

Trump faces two federal criminal trials, two state criminal trials and multiple civil trials ahead of the 2024 election, which may force his legal costs to be even higher this year. Trump has said he is not liable nor responsible for any wrongdoing. Although most of Trump’s trials lay ahead, he did go to court several times in 2023 to enter pleadings, among other things. 

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Trump Asks NRA Members for Their Votes to End the Radical, Gun Control Left’s Reign

Reminding gun owners what he did for the protection of the Second Amendment and pledging to do much more, former President Donald Trump closed the National Rifle Association’s main event Friday with a stemwinder that brought the crowd to its feet. 

In a full-on campaign speech, the Republican presidential frontrunner told those assembled at the NRA-Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum that he was running for another term to right the ship listing from “nation-wrecking, globalist marxists, RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and tyrants.” 

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New York Attorney General Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour with Drag Group Receiving City Contracts

The attorney general of New York State hosted a drag queen story hour event for young children in New York City to protest a perceived “rise in anti-LGBTQ+ protests, rhetoric, and policies.”

In a press statement following the event Sunday, James’ office said “nearly 200 guests enjoyed four back-to-back Story Hours hosted by the Drag Kings, Queens, and Royalty of Drag Story Hour NYC at The Center, which has been a home and resource hub for the LGBTQ+ community and allies since its founding in 1983.”

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Commentary: New York AG Letitia James’ Baseless Lawsuit Is Full-On Trump Derangement Syndrome

The New York Attorney General’s Office is a powerful institution, comprised of over 650 assistant attorney generals and 1,700 employees, with statutory criminal and civil enforcement authority over almost every aspect of life in the state.

With that great power comes great responsibility to be politically neutral, to enforce the laws not for political gain and not to exact political revenge. Concerns over past prosecutorial abuse of power led to the creation in 2021 of the New York Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct, designed to hold prosecutors “to the highest ethical standards in the exercise of their duties.”

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New York Attorney General Sends Threatening Letter to Church Suggesting Their ‘ReAwaken America Tour’ Is ‘Extremist’ and ‘Racially Motivated’

A letter sent by New York Attorney General Letitia James to Cornerstone Church in Batavia, New York, threatened the church, in advance of its hosting a ReAwaken America Tour event this past weekend, with investigation and prosecution of “acts of violence, intimidation, threats, or harassment” toward others based on “a belief or perception” of characteristics including “race,” “national origin,” “gender,” and “sexual orientation.”“national origin,” “gender,” and “sexual orientation.”

“As New York’s top law enforcement officer, I have significant concerns that the ReAwaken America Tour’s upcoming event at the Cornerstone Church in Batavia, New York on August 12 and 13 could spur extremist or racially motivated violence,” James said in the letter sent to Clay Clark, organizer of the tour, and General Michael Flynn, who travels with it, in care of the church.

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Democratic State Attorneys General Ask Biden to Fully Forgive All Student Loan Debt

Joe Biden

Seven state attorneys general, and an eighth from Puerto Rico, have called upon President Joe Biden to fully cancel federal student debt estimated at more than $1.6 trillion.

The U.S. Education Department reports more than 43 million borrowers on average owe $37,000 in student loan debt. The USED already has forgiven $17 billion in student loan debt held by 725,000 borrowers since the beginning of the Biden administration.

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Gun Manufacturers Sue New York over Law Allowing Gun Stores to Be Held Liable for Armed Crimes

On Thursday, a lawsuit was filed against New York Attorney General Letitia James (D-N.Y.) over the state’s “public nuisance law,” which allows private citizens to sue gun stores and gun manufacturers if their weapons are used in an unrelated crime, CNN reports.

The law, signed into law in July, is the first of its kind in the nation, making gun stores and manufacturers liable in any civil suits that may result from firearms being used to commit crimes, even if the distributors had no role in the crime itself. It was deliberately signed as an attempt to circumvent the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a federal law which specifically granted immunity to arms manufacturers and distributors in such cases.

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New York State Attorney General Letitia James Backs Out of Gubernatorial Race

New York State Attorney General Letitia James surprisingly announced Thursday she was suspending her campaign for the next year’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Instead, she said she will run for re-election.

“There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job,” she said in a tweet posted at noon on her personal site.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James Launches Bid for Governor

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday officially launched a bid for governor against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

James’ announcement comes just two months after the resignation of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo due to multiple claims of sexual harassment. As attorney general, James oversaw the five-month investigation into the claims, which the inquiry found to be credible.

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DOJ Drops Investigation into Gov. Cuomo’s COVID Nursing Home Policy

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday celebrated the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to drop its investigation into his policy that sent COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, but with several other probes ongoing, his fate is still unclear.

The DOJ announced last week it would not investigate Cuomo’s March 2020 order forcing nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients, prompting the governor to hold a press conference Monday in which he described allegations his nursing home order caused deaths as “outrageous.” At least 4,000 nursing home residents died when the order was active, according to a report from New York Attorney General Letitia James, with the New York State Department of Health knowingly undercounting nursing home deaths, as first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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New York Sues Amazon over Allegedly Jeopardizing Workers’ Safety

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday night alleging that the online behemoth bypassed regulations meant to protect its workers from COVID-19.

The lawsuit claims that since the pandemic began in March the company refused to adopt legally required safety measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus in its two New York City facilities. It also alleges that Amazon did not adequately sanitize and close its facilities, adopt necessary social distancing measures or notify its employees of possible coronavirus exposures.

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New York Attorney General Files Lawsuit Seeking Dissolution of National Rifle Association

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit Thursday that seeks to have the National Rifle Association dissolved, saying the gun rights organization has been engaging in “illegal conduct” by funneling charitable donations to its leaders.

James accuses longtime NRA leader Wayne LaPierre and a number of other executives at the nonprofit advocacy organization of diverting “millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no-show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty.”

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States, Cities Sue to Block Health Care ‘Conscience’ Rule

  A coalition of 23 U.S. states and municipalities sued the Trump administration Tuesday to stop it from enforcing a rule that would make it easier for doctors and nurses to avoid performing abortions on religious or moral grounds. The lawsuit led by New York Attorney General Letitia James said the expanded “conscience” protections could undermine the ability of states and cities to provide effective health care without jeopardizing billions of dollars a year in federal aid. It also said the rule would upset legislative efforts to accommodate workers’ beliefs while ensuring that hospitals, other businesses and staff treat patients effectively. Sterilizations and assisted suicide are among other medical procedures that might be affected, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan. “The federal government is giving health care providers free license to openly discriminate and refuse care to patients,” James said in a statement. The rule is scheduled to take effect July 22. It will be enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “The rule gives life and enforcement tools to conscience protection laws that have been on the books for decades. HHS finalized the conscience rule after more than a year of careful…

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