Former U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Joe diGenova and former DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General Victoria Toensing told Newsmax on Monday that New York Attorney General Letitia James' conduct outside the Manhattan courtroom where former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial is taking place is "disgraceful."
"What you just witnessed was some of the most unprofessional conduct I've ever seen of a state attorney general or a prosecutor," diGenova said during an appearance on Newsmax's "American Agenda." "She should not be out in the middle of this litigation, making public comments about the evidence or anything else. She is a public official. She has a responsibility as a prosecutor for the state of New York not to engage in what she just did."
Trump testified over four hours on Wednesday in the $250 million fraud case James' office brought against him for allegedly inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable financing terms.
"Donald Trump is a defendant," diGenova continued. "He has the right to speak out and defend himself. She does not have the same rights that he has. She has a higher duty and it is to be quiet. That was a disgraceful performance by her and, by the way, since it's a non-jury trial, why is she out saying these things? The answer is for public consumption. This is politics for her. It has nothing to do with justice. She is an embarrassment to the bench and bar of the state of New York."
Following Trump's testimony, James told reporters that he would face penalties for what she called "repeated and consistent fraud against the citizens of New York."
Toensing said that James' comments about protecting the citizens of New York against Trump's alleged fraud make no sense in a case where no monetary loss occurred.
"I was in charge of the fraud section as one of my areas when I was deputy assistant attorney general; we always had to have a victim and a monetary loss in order to charge fraud," she said. "This is a weird New York law. It's being used for the first time and it violates what the most revered Attorney General Robert Jackson said to a group of U.S. attorneys. [He said] You have a lot of power. Do not find the man and then go through the law books and figure out what kind of crime he commits. That's an abuse of your power. You only get the crime and then find the perpetrator."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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