NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani defends NY AG Letitia James after indictment

Socialist candidate for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani defended New York’s Democratic Attorney General Letitia James following her grand jury indictment on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, calling it a “brazen act of political retaliation” by the Trump administration.

“This is not just an attack on Attorney General Tish James,” Mamdani said Friday at a news conference with local New York leaders speaking in defense of James. “This is an attack on our city. And each of us represents different parts of this same city, and we speak with one voice today.”

A Virginia grand jury indicted James on Thursday, months after Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte said in a criminal referral to the Justice Department in April that James allegedly falsified mortgage records to obtain cheaper loans.

Mamdani – a left-wing candidate who has defended and supported communist principles, including calling for the seizure of “means of production” – said she spoke with James after her indictment on Thursday and said she was confident she would win the case against her.

LETITIA JAMES’ OWN WORDS COME BACK TO HAUNT HER AFTER FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES FILED

A Virginia grand jury indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on October 9, 2025, for bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“Last night she said to me, ‘Don’t worry about me,'” he said. “And that’s indicative of an attorney general who has spent all her time worrying about the people of this city. And so I know that the line of sight that the Trump administration is putting in the attorney general’s crosshairs is because she had the audacity to stand up to him at a time when so many people have bowed.”

“She also made it clear to myself and many others that she has full confidence in the legal team around her that will ensure that not only will she have won the case before us in the courtroom, but she will have won this case,” Mamdani later added, referring to the New York courthouse where President Donald Trump was tried between his first and second presidencies in the New York v. Trump case.

James is a longtime political foe of Trump, notably campaigning for attorney general in 2018 by promising to aggressively pursue legal action against Trump if elected.

Her office filed 100 legal challenges against the first Trump administration and said after his second presidential victory in 2024 that it would continue to challenge him in court to “defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law.”

James’ office also launched a civil fraud proceeding in New York against Trump and the Trump Organization over allegations of defective business practices, winning a nearly $500 million judgment in 2024.

Zohran Mamdani, Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, has vowed to defend New York Attorney General Letitia James amid legal troubles while blasting Trump’s “authoritarian administration.” (Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Mamdani added that the indictment is a “brazen act of political retaliation” by Trump against James.

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“What Donald Trump sought to do by taking control of the federal government was to advance his own greed and his own agenda,” he said. “And we see him now, in his pursuit of that progress, he is devastating our democracy. This is a blatant miscarriage of justice. This is a brazen act of political retaliation.”

“Instead of going after Tish James for doing her job, Donald Trump should be doing his job. Because Donald Trump ran for president on three promises: carry out mass deportations, punish his political enemies and alleviate the cost of living crisis,” he said, asserting that Trump is “fundamentally incapable of keeping” the third promise.

State Attorney General Letitia James was seen during a public safety announcement aimed at preventing gun violence at City Hall. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital when asked about Mamdani’s comments: “Comrade Mamdani’s dangerous ideology would crush working families – whether it’s his crazy state grocery stores or his plot to tax white neighborhoods more, he has no room to criticize the president’s wildly successful policies to defeat Biden’s inflationary crisis.

Mamdani vowed to defend James amid his legal troubles while blasting Trump’s “authoritarian administration.”

“This indictment is instructive on two counts,” he said. “The first, in his example of an authoritarian administration that seeks to punish those whose only crime is holding Donald Trump to the same laws that all Americans should be required to follow. And the second is what he expects of each of us. Will we stand by while an authoritarian president like Donald Trump attacks the very fabric of this democracy?”

NEW YORK AG’S LETITIA JAMES INCHARGATION CAUSES PARTISAN VICTORY

Pulte’s criminal reference letter in April referenced a home James purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2023, which she identified on mortgage documents and a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac form as a property that would serve as her primary residence.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani defended New York Attorney General Letitia James during a press conference on October 10, 2025, after James was indicted by a grand jury in Virginia. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

James is legally required to live in New York as a statewide elected official.

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The criminal referral also cited reported problems in the past with James’ properties, including the 2001 purchase of property in Brooklyn, New York. The certificate of occupancy lists the property as a five-unit residence, while James’ mortgages list the property as four-unit, which could affect mortgage contracts.

Fox News Digital reached out to James’ office for comment Friday afternoon and has not yet received a response.

Andrew Mark Miller of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.