NY Dems want government to pay bills for AG's misconduct

 NY Post:

Taxpayers could be on the hook for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ legal bills during Justice Department probes into her alleged fraudulent real estate dealings, The Post has learned.

Albany Democrats are expected to sign off on a provision allowing certain officials to tap into a $10 million fund to cover “any reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred” — even as part of probes not directly related to their state employment.

The language is being slipped into New York’s operations budget bill — one of several expected to be made public and voted on starting Wednesday as the Legislature moves to pass next year’s fiscal plan.

Multiple sources told The Post that the specific language in the bill would apply to James’ looming legal fight.

New York Republican State Committee Chairman Ed Cox quickly lashed out over the move to slip a legal “bailout” to James, calling it an “outrageous abuse of power and a slap in the face to every New Yorker.”

“This is what corruption looks like in plain sight: political insiders rigging the system to protect their own, while hardworking families get shortchanged,” he said in a statement.

“Tish James used her office to wage partisan lawfare against her political opponents, and now New Yorkers are footing the bill for the consequences.”
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James, who infamously declared that “no one is above the law” when she was prosecuting Trump over his business dealings, was hit with a DOJ criminal referral for instances of alleged mortgage fraud last month.
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Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte sent a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 14 asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging she “falsified bank documents and property records.”

He alleged James falsely listed a home in Virginia as her principal residence.

Records show that James was listed as a co-borrower on a house being purchased by her niece.

Her high-profile attorney, Abbe David Lowell, claimed in a fiery letter to Bondi April 24 that the Trump administration “cherry-picked” information against James and called Pulte’s request for the DOJ to prosecute his client for mortgage fraud “improper political retribution.”

But he admitted she had “mistakenly” listed a Virginia home as her primary residence.
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The allegations of falsifying records appear to have merit.  I don't think someone could accidentally say a home in Virginia is their "primary residence" when they actually live and work in New York in a government job.