A legal defense fund tapped by Attorney General Letitia James is redirecting some donations after experts said the arrangement is an ethical quagmire.
The Democratic Attorneys General Association last year launched a legal defense fund, which has paid nearly $720,000 to lawyers defending James against federal mortgage fraud charges. But the group recently redirected $5,200 from two donors after Gothamist published details about their giving being motivated by a desire to help James.
The state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, or COELIG, cleared James to accept the aid in December because it believed donors to the defense fund would remain anonymous. That wasn’t quite the case.
The Democratic group’s donors are publicly disclosed in tax filings, which the commission didn’t initially realize. It corrected its written opinion but said the error didn’t change its approval.
Outside experts said it remains problematic.
“It is troubling because it does provide a means for third parties to channel funds to the attorney general,” said Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault, a former chair of the New York City Conflict of Interest Board.
James said the mortgage fraud charges were motivated by President Donald Trump’s desire for revenge against her for a fraud judgment she won against him and his business, and Democrats leaped to her defense. A federal judge in Virginia later dismissed the indictment.
The Democratic Attorneys General Association, which supports Democratic attorneys general and candidates across the country, established the defense fund two weeks before James was indicted in October. The group’s president, Sean Rankin, said the association expected the attacks on James and potentially other attorneys general to escalate.
Donations To AG James For Trump Defense Diverted Amid Ethics Concerns
