'Lawfare': Trump DOJ slammed for 'weaponized' grand-jury probe of NY AG

On Friday morning, August 8, the news broke that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), under Attorney General Pam Bondi, is launching a grand-jury investigation of New York State Attorney General Letitia James — an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump who conducted aggressive civil investigations.

On CNN, reporter Brynn Gingras told host Wolf Blitzer that "there are now two grand-jury subpoenas issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York looking to get information about James' office, basically trying to see if there was any criminality by her office when she filed that civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization."

Gingras noted that because Trump was found liable in James' lawsuit, Trump owes "about a half a billion dollars in penalty" because of the interest.

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Grigras told Blitzer, "This is a pursuit to figure out if there was any criminality in the investigation moving forward to that lawsuit…. There is another lawsuit in relation to James suing the NRA…. James is a big adversary of Trump."

On MSNBC, legal analyst Danny Cevallos told host Chris Jansing, "Grand jury investigations sweep broadly…. Letitia James should be very concerned, not because she did anything wrong."

The Trump DOJ's grand-jury subpoenas against James are generating a lot of discussion on X, formerly Twitter.

Some MAGA Republicans are praising the subpoenas.

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MAGA influencer Nick Sortor tweeted, "BREAKING UPDATE: Letitia James is under criminal investigation for deprivation of rights after she TARGETED Trump for political purposes and violated his First Amendment rights Subpoenas have been sent and grand jury empaneled Tish was the HUNTER. She's now THE HUNTED."

Kathleen Winchell, another MAGA figure, posted, "This is music to my ears time for retribution!"

MAGA Christian nationalist Kevin M. Nelson commented, "This is such a beautiful thing to see after the 5+ years of hell they put Trump through."

But others on X are attacking the subpoenas as overtly political.

X user Russell Drew posted, "Trump's DOJ isn't about justice — it's the Department of Revenge. This is pure LAWFARE, the kind Republicans have long lied about Dems using. The difference? They're actually doing it. Every day, we sink deeper into the fascist abyss. Letitia James is being targeted as payback."

KrassenCast's Ed Krassenstein commented, "BREAKING: Trump’s Weaponized DOJ has launched a grand jury investigation into Letitia James for 'Deprivation of rights'. 'Deprivation of rights' allegations refer to claims that someone, often a government official 'under color of law' has violated another person’s rights that are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution or federal law. Trump is literally doing what he is claiming others are."

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Watch the full CNN video below.

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