Representative Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), the House GOP conference chairwoman, is demanding that New York attorney general Letitia James be disbarred or suspended over the “clear bias” demonstrated in her handling of former president Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
On Monday, Stefanik filed an official bar complaint with the New York Committee on Professional Standards against James for pursuing a “personal vendetta” against Trump and his business empire. In the 64-page letter, the congresswoman makes the case that James’s partiality “raises serious ethical concerns” and violates the state committee’s rules of professional conduct for attorneys.
“New York Attorney General Letitia James violated the Rules of Professional Conduct by conducting a biased investigation and prosecution of President Trump and by attacking President Trump through extrajudicial statements during a trial,” Stefanik wrote.
“In just the first five weeks of the trial that began in October 2023–before I stopped counting–Ms. James made over 50 highly inappropriate and prejudicial comments on social media,” she added, citing 53 social-media posts showing James’s bias during the trial. “This complaint respectfully requests that the Attorney Grievance Committee conduct an investigation and issue an immediate interim suspension, disbar Ms. James as an attorney and counselor-at-law, or suspend Ms. James.”
More specifically, James is being accused of violating Rule 8.4(h), which states: “A lawyer or law firm shall not: … (h) engage in any other conduct that adversely reflects on the lawyer’s fitness as a lawyer.”
Stefanik claimed the attorney general’s social-media posts violate this rule, as do her other public statements at press conferences and in media interviews. “Despite her clear bias, Ms. James has launched frivolous investigations and lawsuits against President Trump, his family, and his businesses,” it reads. “It should go without saying that the abuse of an attorney’s official position—especially an elective office—to pursue a personal vendetta violates the most basic ethical precepts.”
The bar complaint also points to Rule 3.6, which restricts lawyers from making extrajudicial statements that can be easily disseminated to the public during a trial, as grounds for disciplinary action against James.
By the end of the letter, Stefanik called for James to “be suspended on an interim basis” before ultimately getting disbarred or suspended indefinitely based on what the Attorney Grievance Committee finds if it opens an investigation.
As the civil-fraud trial continues, James is seeking $370 million in fines against Trump and his co-defendants for allegedly inflating the value of their properties in order to receive lower interest rates.
Before assuming office as attorney general in 2019, James made it clear she wanted to take the former president and Trump Organization to court. During her 2018 election night victory speech, she vowed to shine a “bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings.”