NEW YORK: Indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James defiantly endorsed mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani at a rally on Monday.
James, who recently faced criminal charges from Donald Trump’s justice department, made her first public comments since the indictment.
“I know what it feels like to be attacked for just doing your job,“ she told a cheering crowd in Manhattan’s Washington Heights district.
She vowed to continue fighting against what she described as aggressive policies from Washington.
“I will keep fighting the aggressive policies of Washington, DC, and I will not stop, I won’t give up, and I won’t give in.”
James added a powerful declaration with her statement “I fear no man,“ seen as a direct challenge to the president.
The 66-year-old Democrat was indicted on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
She previously oversaw the fraud case against Trump that resulted in a $454 million civil penalty before it was overturned on appeal.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, praised James for standing up to what he called an authoritarian administration.
“His authoritarian administration is waging a scorched earth campaign of retribution against any who dared oppose (him),“ Mamdani stated.
Recent Quinnipiac University polls show Mamdani leading former governor Andrew Cuomo by 13 points in the mayoral race.
The New York City mayoral election is scheduled for November 4 with incumbent Eric Adams having withdrawn from the contest.
James faces allegations concerning false statements made to obtain favorable loan terms for a Virginia property purchase.
A coalition of 22 attorneys general condemned the prosecution as retaliatory and characteristic of authoritarian regimes.
“These kinds of prosecutorial abuses are the hallmarks of police states and authoritarian regimes -- not America’s democracy,“ their joint statement read.
The indictment came shortly after former FBI director James Comey also pleaded not guilty to separate charges. – AFP
