Letitia James ‘fearlessly’ exposes longstanding myths about Trump in fraud case

“There’s a certain poetic justice to a Black woman exposing a criminal degenerate former president as being a complete fraud,” political strategist Reecie Colbert tells theGrio.

Though Donald Trump saw a major victory on Monday when a New York appellate court reduced his nearly half-billion-dollar appeals bond, political and legal experts made clear that Attorney General Letitia James is the real winner in the civil fraud case.

“There’s a certain poetic justice to a Black woman exposing a criminal degenerate former president as being a complete fraud,” political strategist Reecie Colbert said of James, who made history as New York’s first Black female attorney general. “She really fearlessly went after Donald Trump, and she did it methodically, and she did it in a way that made her case unimpeachable. That’s why she got this massive victory.”

Though Trump has an additional 10 days to pay $175 million, James made clear it holds no consequence to her historic win against a former U.S. president. 

“Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud,” the Howard Law School graduate said in a statement issued Monday after Trump’s $454 million appeals bond was narrowed on the day he was due to pay it. “The $464 million judgment – plus interest – against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.”

For her part, Letitia James has emerged as a powerful political figure. As former New York assemblyman and CEO of the Kairos Democracy Project Michael A. Blake points out, James is “the most recognizable attorney general in America.”

“We can’t ignore the significance of a Black person, and more specifically a Black woman, accomplishing this success against a man who has for decades gone after Black people,” Blake told theGrio.

The 65-year-old attorney general, who made history in her successful prosecution of a former president, did what few prosecutors could do in decades past. 

“There was a history of knowledge within the New York City and New York State community of these practices, and no one ever had enough courage to step up and actually bring about justice,” explained April Camara, president and CEO of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. 

Camara told theGrio, “It’s really important to note that a Black woman was the person to step up and actually be courageous enough to investigate this case and bring it to a just result.” She noted that James “stood courageously against a lot of assaults and a lot of attacks on her character, and she didn’t waver.” 

The fact that Trump moved to appeal the $454 million liability and extend the deadline for him to issue a lesser $175 million payment shows that James may have also exposed the so-called billionaire isn’t as wealthy as he claimed to be. 

The former president, who avoided paying federal taxes for at least a decade, is currently scrambling to put together the money while his 2024 reelection campaign continues to bleed cash and his Super PAC helps pay his legal fees amid several criminal and civil cases.

“If you’re assessing that you believe Trump was a successful businessman, it’s becoming very clear to you that he’s a fraud,” said Blake, who worked for the Obama White House and presidential campaigns.

“For many people, they think about Trump from ‘The Apprentice,’” he said. “It’s important to remind and educate people of the history. This family built their success in large part due to fraud and in large part because they were attacking Black and brown people.”

The former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee recalled Trump’s history of housing discrimination against Black residents in New York in the 1970s. Blake noted that Trump issued a call for the death penalty against five Black and brown teens, known as the Central Park Five, for an assault and rape they did not commit.

“If the reason you thought Trump was successful, and think, ‘Well, this is the man who got me a COVID check,’” said Blake, “what you now have to envision is he is the man who has to now write a half-a-billion-dollar check because of the fraud he actually committed.”

Colbert said that if the Biden-Harris reelection campaign and Democrats are savvy enough, a political prosecution of Trump is theirs for the taking. 

The idea that Trump is a successful businessman is one of his “strongest narratives,” she said. “That’s why [people think] he’s better on the economy. That’s why people feel like they did better under Trump.” Colbert said, “Democrats need to really run that home.” 

“Not only is he a fraud in business, but his record is a fraud. The claims that he made about how he made your life better are fraud,” she added. “This whole save democracy thing is not going to resonate as much as really undercutting the notion that he was a competent president who actually accomplished anything. That’s the hardest thing that they have to get over.”

The successful prosecution of Trump could also have a political impact on Letitia James, who briefly launched a campaign to be the governor of New York before dropping out to “finish the job” of attorney general. 

“How often can someone say that they have successfully defeated a former president in court? She has done that,” said Blake.

Colbert said James demonstrates “why Black women make for some of the best leaders,” noting that she could see her moving to higher office, whether that is governor of New York or U.S. attorney general. Regardless, she said, James’ prosecution of Trump will “go down in history as one of the most consequential civil judgments of all time.”

Camara said that as a former public defender, she also understands what the Trump prosecution means for Black and brown communities.

“Oftentimes what we see in the legal system is that people who are under-resourced and furthest away from money and power are oftentimes targeted and mostly impacted by prosecutions in the legal system,” she explained. 

“To see the system actually worked fairly, even against a person who held the highest office in the land, is not only historic, but it is very important to preserving these ideas around equal justice for all.”

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Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C.

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