New York's Republican Committee leader called state Attorney General Letitia James "utterly unfit to serve" after a recently uncovered email accused an official in her office of improperly targeting people and organizations associated with President Donald Trump.
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld, who was assigned to the AG's Investor Protection Bureau, sent the email agency-wide within James' office, as first reported by the Times Union. Wiesenfeld claimed he had been instructed by his supervisor — bureau chief Shamiso Maswoswe — to "find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump."
"Letitia James weaponized the Attorney General's office into a political hit squad and then tried
to cover up her tracks," New York GOP Chair Ed Cox said in a statement on Aug. 30, referring to the email.
"New Yorkers deserve an Attorney General who prosecutes criminals, preserves public records and enforces the law without fear or favor," he added.
Here's what to know.
What did the NY AG email reveal?
Wiesenfeld said Maswoswe asked him to target Trump, the president's social media platform, Truth Social, and Hewlett-Packard "without having a credible reason for targeting this organizations and individuals," the TU reported, noting the Hewlett-Packard reference was linked to James and other state attorneys general opposing the tech company's acquisition of Juniper Networks.
The prosecutor also accused James of using "significant" taxpayer money to "target convenient public enemies" and not taking action against "rampant nonprofit homeless shelter fraud and antisemitic crimes in and around synagogues," says the TU.
Wiesenfeld's email was deleted from the office's servers and "vanished" from more than 2,000 employees' inboxes. Those employed by the AG's Office then received another agency-wide email, this time from the AG's general counsel, Kumiki Gibson, explaining that the previous email was an "internal" matter and that nobody in the office was "in danger," the TU noted.
Wiesenfeld has worked for the AG's Office for around two years, the outlet also reported, and assisted on the AG's Office's cases against prediction market platforms Coinbase and Gemini earlier this year.
"This is a personnel matter," a spokesperson for the AG's Office said in a statement on Aug. 31. "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."
Attorney General James' ongoing feud with Trump
This incident is the latest in an ever-deepening rift between James and the president as the attorney general first vowed to investigate Trump while she was running for office in 2018.
James brought a successful civil fraud case against Trump and his companies, which were initially ordered to pay nearly $500 million for manipulating the values of the businesses for financial gain in 2024. The massive financial penalty was overturned by an appeals court last year, as it was declared excessive.
And in October 2025, James was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution following an investigation into alleged mortgage fraud in connection with a mortgage she obtained to help her niece to buy a home in Norfolk, Virginia. The charges were ultimately dismissed.
Both parties have accused the other of taking legal action against each other for politically-motivated reasons.
Prior Cuomo investigation featured NY AG political motivation accusations
James was also central to the investigation of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's alleged sexual harassment and released a report on the allegations that was tied to Cuomo's resignation in 2021.
According to previous USA TODAY Network reporting, Cuomo and his attorney cast doubt on the AG's report at the time, asserting that James' political aspirations drove the report's findings. A spokesperson for Cuomo then also called the report "politically motivated" as James was running for governor at the time.
NY GOP shows support for James' Republican challenger
In the Aug. 30 statement, Cox also touted James' Republican challenger in the upcoming midterm elections, calling Saritha Komatireddy a "tough, experienced prosecutor who will restore integrity, accountability and the rule of law to an office that has lost its way."
Komatireddy's campaign also responded to the incident in an X post on Sunday.
"When Saritha is Attorney General, she will instruct her attorneys to lock up repeat offenders, build residential treatment for the homeless, and root out fraud — not target people because of their politics," a spokesperson for Komatireddy's campaign said.
"It's good to see that even the rank and file in the AG's office agree that this is the right way forward," the statement continued. "Let's work together across partisan lines — and create a safer, more affordable New York."
Emily Barnes covers state government for the USA TODAY Network-New York with a focus on how policy and laws impact New Yorkers' taxes, communities and jobs. Follow her on Instagram or X @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: AG James' office accused of targeting Trump by NY prosecutor: report
