FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

October 10, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke issued the following statement:

“I have known Letitia James for the better part of my career in public service. From her days as a legal staffer in the New York State Legislature, to the New York City Council, to the Office of the New York City Public Advocate, to her ascension to Attorney General of New York in 2019, I have watched her persistently prove with great clarity that there is no public servant in this nation more honorable, ethical, and devoted to justice and the rule of law than she. Attorney General James’ record stands beyond reproach. But that truth could not stop an administration that has been hell-bent on seeking retribution against all those who have dared to hold Donald Trump accountable. And so, following a lengthy investigation in search of a crime, all Donald Trump’s corrupted Department of Justice can produce against Letitia James’ good name are two charges disproven by every fact available to us.

“Let me be clear: this accusation, like the man who ordered it, is a sham. The American people know it. The U.S. Attorney whom Donald Trump forced to resign for refusing to carry out this case knows it. Even the president’s hand-picked attorney leading this case knows it. But she, like every other instrument of the Trump Regime, would rather abide by the president’s good graces than the United States Constitution. While I am utterly disturbed by this unjustifiable and baseless attack against Attorney General James, I am not at all surprised by it. This farce is nothing but the product of a years-long revenge crusade against the first woman who made Donald Trump face the consequences of his actions. Where so many have failed to hold him accountable for his lifetime of wrongdoings and lawlessness, Tish James succeeded. To a convicted criminal like the president who is wholly consumed by his narcissism, ego, and limitless insecurities, that in his twisted thinking was a transgression that could not be forgiven or forgotten.

“In a vacuum, these charges and the punishment they carry are absurd and disturbing. In the context of the rampant criminality this administration excuses and embraces without a second thought, they become simply laughable. But we know that, historically, neither authoritarian regimes nor the small men atop them can tolerate those with a total devotion to justice. When the rule of law is all that stands in the way of the absolute control they crave, they cannot bear those whose very being gives it life. In Donald Trump’s America, this attack was always going to come. It will fail. When all these falsehoods fall apart in a court of law, Americans across the country will know the true character of Letitia James and salute her for her service to New York and the United States.”

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