Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Letitia James lashes out at her indictment in fiery speech

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Letitia James lashes out at her indictment in fiery speech · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: We were now hearing from New York Attorney General Latitia
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  Speaker 1: James for the first time since she was indicted on
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  Speaker 1: federal charges. She took the stage at a rally for
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  Speaker 1: New York City Democratic mayoral nominees or on Memdani last night.
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  Speaker 1: She did not specifically mention the President by name, but
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  Speaker 1: made it clear in the wake of her indictment. She
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  Speaker 1: says she's not afraid.
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  Speaker 2: Triumph over fear and courage. Courage, my friend is resistance
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  Speaker 2: to fear, and so I fear no man.
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  Speaker 1: I am all right. Seeing as Gloria Pasmino, you're seeing
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  Speaker 1: her right there. She was in this room thousands of
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  Speaker 1: people at this rally.
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  Speaker 3: Thirty two hundred to be exact, in a room that
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  Speaker 3: could fit thirty five hundred. And although Zora Mamdani, the
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  Speaker 3: Democratic mayoral nominee, was the headliner of the evening, Tis
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  Speaker 3: James got a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes,
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  Speaker 3: and people there were extremely sort of excited and in
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  Speaker 3: support of her. This is the first time we're seeing
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  Speaker 3: her in public after the indictment, and you could hear
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  Speaker 3: in her remarks that even though she didn't name trek
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  Speaker 3: President Trump, she was very much talking about him now,
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  Speaker 3: James referred to her a mom Nani at one point
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  Speaker 3: as her little brother. She really complimented him, called them
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  Speaker 3: one of the boldest voices in New York's political history.
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  Speaker 3: And she tried to draw this contrast in the moment
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  Speaker 3: that we're in now, including her indictment and his election,
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  Speaker 3: and she talked about not being afraid, trying to show
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  Speaker 3: a united front against Trump between her and Mom Donnie Tiko.
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  Speaker 2: Listen, I stand on solid rock and I will not bow,
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  Speaker 2: I will not write, I will not then, I will
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  Speaker 2: not capitulate, I will not give in.
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  Speaker 3: I will not give up. You know, John, I was
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  Speaker 3: at the Attorney General's campaign launch several years ago when
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  Speaker 3: she first announced that she was running for attorney general,
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  Speaker 3: and she was making remarks very similar to what we
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  Speaker 3: heard last night back then, saying that she planned to
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  Speaker 3: hold Donald Trump accountable. Since the indictment, she's raised nearly
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  Speaker 3: a million dollars in donations from her supporters. So we're
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  Speaker 3: seeing the effect that that's having. And in terms of
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  Speaker 3: this democratic mayoral race that we are about to have
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  Speaker 3: in a few weeks. The general election is in November.
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  Speaker 3: We're just a few weeks away We're seeing another prominent
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  Speaker 3: Democrat get involved today that Governor Cathy Hokle will be
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  Speaker 3: appearing with the dominees or on mam Nani back in
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  Speaker 3: his home district in Queens. It's the first time they're
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  Speaker 3: appearing together since she endorsed him.
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  Speaker 1: All right, lock one of the swirling political worlds and legal
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  Speaker 1: worlds here, all of your beats wrapped up into one.
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  Speaker 1: Gloria Pasbi No, great to see it, Thank you very much.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get right to see it. And senior legal analyst,
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  Speaker 1: former federal prosecutor Ellie H. Councilor, great to see you
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  Speaker 1: this morning. First on Letitia James a fiery rally last
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  Speaker 1: night where she did mention President Trump by name, but
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  Speaker 1: she talked about the weaponization of the Justice Department. What
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  Speaker 1: does that tell you about her possible defense strategy and
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  Speaker 1: what's the risk reward for being so public when you
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  Speaker 1: are under federal indictment.
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  Speaker 4: Well, John, it's always a bad idea for anyone who's
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  Speaker 4: under federal indictment to make any public statement because, as
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  Speaker 4: we know, anything you say can and will be used
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  Speaker 4: against you in court. That said, it has to be relevant,
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  Speaker 4: and I did not hear anything in Letitia James's comments
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  Speaker 4: that would be relevant to the actual mortgage fraud claims
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  Speaker 4: against her. So I don't think any of that is
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  Speaker 4: going to be played back in court. That said, rest
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  Speaker 4: assured prosecutors will be watching everything she says. To the
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  Speaker 4: larger point, John, there's quite a bit of hypocrisy at
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  Speaker 4: play here. I mean, there's very little question that Donald
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  Speaker 4: Trump has politically targeted Letitia James. You can see that
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  Speaker 4: in Donald Trump's social media posts. You can see that
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  Speaker 4: in the removal and replacement of the prosecutor who did
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  Speaker 4: not want to bring these charges. Without a doubt, Letitia
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  Speaker 4: James can argue that before trial to try to get
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  Speaker 4: this case dismissed. She might well succeed. But let's also
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  Speaker 4: not whitewash history here. Letitia James did essentially the same
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  Speaker 4: thing to Donald Trump. She ran for office, explicitly targeting him.
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  Speaker 4: She fundraised on that, she brought a lawsuit that ultimately
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  Speaker 4: was gutted, not quite entirely dismissed, but mostly reversed by
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  Speaker 4: a liberal appeals court in New York State. So they're
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  Speaker 4: both wrong. They've both targeted each other, and one does
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  Speaker 4: not validate the other.
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  Speaker 1: Is weaponization of justice a legal strategy, they can go
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  Speaker 1: from the outside to inside a courtroom with any level
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  Speaker 1: of success.
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  Speaker 4: For sure. Yeah, Letitia James, as a criminal defendant will
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  Speaker 4: be able to raise a pre trial motion to dismiss
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  Speaker 4: based on what we call selective or vindictive prosecution. And
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  Speaker 4: so if she can show that she was singled out
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  Speaker 4: from among others who've engaged in similar conduct because of
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  Speaker 4: her political persuasion, then yes, you can get a judge
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  Speaker 4: to throw out a case before it gets to a jury.
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  Speaker 4: I think Jim Comey is going to have a strong
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  Speaker 4: argument among those lines. I think Letitia James is going
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  Speaker 4: to have a strong argument along those lines based on
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  Speaker 4: Donald Trump's own public statements. So we'll see what those
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  Speaker 4: judges do. But yeah, this could absolutely play out in
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  Speaker 4: court as well.
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  Speaker 1: So we don't know what will happen next and to whom.
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  Speaker 1: But there has been reporting that federal prosecutors for preparing
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  Speaker 1: an indictment against former National Security advisor and Massador John Bolton.
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  Speaker 1: That may have to do with the retention of classified documents. There, Ellie,
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  Speaker 1: what do you see is going on here? And it
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  Speaker 1: is worth noting Bolton, like James, like Comy, is someone
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  Speaker 1: who current President Trump has targeted as a political opponent.
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  Speaker 1: But how is this case possibly different.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm gonna withhold judgment on the Bolton case until
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  Speaker 4: we see an indictment, if there is one, but there
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  Speaker 4: are indicators that there may be more legitimacy to this case.
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  Speaker 4: The reporting is that this case against John Bolton originated
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  Speaker 4: during the prior administration, the Biden administration. There are also
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  Speaker 4: indicators that this case developed organically, that it was based
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  Speaker 4: on a leak of information from John Bolton or a
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  Speaker 4: provision by John Bolton of information to some foreign entities
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  Speaker 4: which then came to the attention of American intelligence. Also
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  Speaker 4: worth noting John, two separate federal judges, one in Maryland
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  Speaker 4: one in DC both reviewed and approved search warrants when
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  Speaker 4: John Bolton's home and office were searched back in August.
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  Speaker 4: That had to go through two separate federal judges, both
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  Speaker 4: of whom found at least probable cause to engage in
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  Speaker 4: those searches. So if there's an indictment, as the reporting
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  Speaker 4: says there could be sometime soon, let's take a close
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  Speaker 4: look at that. I'm not so sure that's going to
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  Speaker 4: fall in the same bucket as the Comie and James cases.
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  Speaker 1: Just you know, Americans, I think voters know a lot
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  Speaker 1: about the classified document retention. Now do we know how
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  Speaker 1: this case can be similar or different to the cases
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  Speaker 1: of say, former President Biden or current President Trump and
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  Speaker 1: their attention of classified documents?
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  Speaker 4: Right there? Certainly is recent precedent of investigations and in
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  Speaker 4: some cases prosecutions. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Donald Trump all
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  Speaker 4: were subject of substantial investigations for mishandling of classified info.
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  Speaker 4: The two key facts to watch for One was the
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  Speaker 4: handling of that classified information or mishandling? Was it intentional
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  Speaker 4: or was it accidental? And second of all, was that
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  Speaker 4: information disseminated? Did the person provide it to any outsider?
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  Speaker 4: Those are really two key questions. If the answer to
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  Speaker 4: both of those is yes, then I think it's much
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  Speaker 4: more likely we will actually see a criminal indictment of
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  Speaker 4: John Bolton.
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  Speaker 1: As you say, we don't know for certain right now,
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  Speaker 1: and obviously we need to see the details if in
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  Speaker 1: one it does come out. Counselor elihoning, always great to
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  Speaker 1: see you. Thank you so much for being with us
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  Speaker 1: this morning.