President Donald Trump said the Cornell students accused of gang rape "won't get a fair shake" because New York Attorney General Letitia James – a perceived political enemy of the president – is assigned to the investigation.
"Letitia James is a corrupt person," Trump told reporters
outside the White House on Oct. 2. "She's totally corrupt and I can't imagine it. And I feel badly for whoever she's looking at."New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed James to investigate the case on Oct. 1. after outrage sparked this week about an alleged gang rape incident in 2024 by seven brothers of the Chi Phi fraternity at the Ivy League university. The plaintiff, identified as "Jane Doe," wrote in a new court filing that a prior investigation resulted in little
to no disciplinary action from the university or New York officials.
Trump's DOJ went after James twice, after she won civil NY suit against him.
Trump has fiercely criticized James since the New York prosecutor won a $454 million judgment against Trump for defrauding lenders by inflating his assets in 2024.
She joined the list of Trump's political foes that his Justice Department investigated when federal prosecutors launched a probe into James' office. In August 2026, an appeals court upheld a decision that the DOJ could not enforce subpoenas against James, but a DOJ spokesperson said they disagree with that decision and intend to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In October 2025, she was indicted in a separate case looking into possible mortgage fraud. The case came around the same time that former FBI Director James Comey was indicted for lying to Congress and obstruction. Trump made comments in the weeks before, telling then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into political enemies, including James and Comey.
The mortgage fraud charges were dismissed by a federal judge, though, because Lindsey Halligan – a former Trump attorney appointed as interim U.S. attorney – had presented the case to the grand jury, and the judge ruled that Halligan's appointment to serve an interim role in Virginia was unlawful. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, though, meaning that prosecutors could seek the same charges again.
The case against Comey was also dismissed because of Halligan's involvement.
Contributing: Josh Meyer, Aysha Bagshi, Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says Cornell 7 'won't get fair shake' because NY AG Letitia James
