'Find and prosecute crimes': A deleted email from Letitia James' office reveals a potential campaign of persecution against Donald Trump

A controversy has erupted within the New York Attorney General's Office that directly involves the office of Letitia James, one of President Donald Trump's most persistent legal adversaries. According to the Times Union, a prosecutor alleged that his superiors ordered him to investigate crimes specifically related to the Republican leader and entities linked to him, without any concrete grounds for doing so. His email is part of a long history of allegations by the president and Republicans regarding the manipulation of the justice system to achieve political goals.

According to the Times Union report, Deputy Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld, a member of the State Attorney General's Office of Investor Protection, stated that his direct supervisor, Shamiso Maswoswe, asked him to target "Trump himself, Truth Social, Hewlett Packard (DOJ approved merger)… without having a credible reason for targeting [these] organizations and individuals."

On Friday, Wiesenfeld sent an email to the entire agency with instructions "to find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump," according to the New York media outlet's report. That message reportedly disappeared from the internal servers shortly thereafter. James' general counsel, Kumiki Gibson, later sent a memo clarifying that this was an "internal" matter and that no employee was in any "danger."

James' office denied any political motivation behind the incident, though it did not provide a direct explanation. A spokesperson sent the following message to Fox News Digital: "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."

The New York Post, for its part, reported that Wiesenfeld was placed on paid administrative leave while the internal investigation proceeds.

The White House was quick to react to the leaked email. Spokesperson Lauren Bis described the incident as part of a larger pattern: "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."

This latest episode adds to a history of tension that has been ongoing for several years between James and Trump. The attorney general built much of her political career on the promise to investigate the business practices of the then-businessman, a promise she fulfilled in 2022 by filing a civil fraud lawsuit against him and the Trump Organization. That case initially resulted in penalties exceeding $450 million, although an appeals court ultimately upheld Trump's liability while completely overturning the financial penalty imposed.