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The new budget authorized by New York lawmakers has MAGA world up in arms over a special line that provides funds for government employees who are targeted by Trump’s Justice Department.
As Gothamist reports, it seems pretty clear the funds are to assist New York Attorney General Letitia James, even if the budget line doesn’t mention her by name:
The budget sets aside $10 million to cover private defense costs for state employees subject to federal investigation, so long as the investigation was ‘reasonably likely to have been commenced’ because of the employee’s work. The measure leaves little doubt it is carefully tailored to apply to James, who won a $450 million judgment against Trump, his family and his business last year. The provision applies to state employees who ‘previously initiated … a criminal or civil investigation or prosecution’ of a federal official.
Trump has smeared James for years, publicly calling her everything from “racist” to a “total crook,” as she pursued a successful fraud prosecution of the Trump family real estate business.
The allocation in New York’s budget comes after Trump’s Justice Department launched a “working group” to investigate James and other officials who’ve probed Trump over the years and initiated a criminal investigation into allegations that James engaged in mortgage fraud.
James’ lawyer told CBS News that it “appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch. If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.”
Republicans and conservative media are trying to gin up outrage, framing the budget line as an unnecessary expense and a burden on New York taxpayers — though there’s a valid argument to be made that New Yorkers have a vested interest in ensuring their officials can work without fear of reprisal for doing their jobs.
Gothamist’s report includes a quote from Staten Island Republican state Sen. Andrew Lanza, who said, “I can’t imagine a majority of New Yorkers not being outraged” by the provision. The conservative New York Post editorial board denounced it as well, while the New York Republican state committee chairman told the Post that the money amounts to “corruption.”
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik denounced the provision in a statement calling it a “slush fund.” But even her statement seems to make the obvious connection between James’ investigations of Trump and the Trump administration’s investigation of James. “Letitia James, who illegally weaponized her office to pursue politically motivated witch hunts, now expects taxpayers to foot the bill for her alleged misconduct,” Stefanik said.
In the video clip below, you can listen to James herself discuss what she calls Trump’s “revenge tour” during her recent sit-down with MSNBC host Chris Hayes, for a recent episode of his “Why Is This Happening?” podcast. Check it out below: