New York AG Letitia James Speaks at Rally in First Appearance Since Indictment

‘You come for me, you got to come to all of us,’ James said at the rally for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
New York AG Letitia James Speaks at Rally in First Appearance Since Indictment
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during an event for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in New York City on Oct. 13, 2025. Olga Fedorova/AP Photo
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New York Attorney General Letitia James spoke at a rally for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Oct. 13, marking her first public appearance after being indicted on federal fraud charges.

The event, in the city’s Washington Heights neighborhood, also included remarks from New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud and the television personality and podcaster known as The Kid Mero, kicked off the final stretch of Mamdani’s campaign ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

“We see powerful voices trying to silence truth, punish dissent, and yes, weaponize justice for political gain,” James said at the rally. “We are witnessing the fraying of our democracy, the erosion of our system of government. This, my friends, is a defining moment in our history.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Oct. 9 indicted James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements related to a property she bought in Norfolk, Virginia.
Prosecutors alleged that she falsely claimed that a home in Norfolk was her second residence, allowing her to obtain favorable loan terms. She rented the property to a family, an action prohibited by the loan terms, according to her indictment.
James responded Oct. 9 by denouncing the indictment as “baseless” and “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”

She is expected to make her initial appearance in a federal court in Virginia on Oct. 24. If convicted of the felony charges, she would automatically relinquish her office under New York law.

Speaking at Mamdani’s rally, James struck a defiant tone, vowing that she “will not capitulate” despite facing legal challenges.

“You come for me, you got to come to all of us,” she said as the crowd cheered. “Every single one of us. We’re all in this together.”

James said she supports Mamdani because he shares the same values she does, adding that the Democratic Party’s mayoral candidate is someone who understands the need to change “the way that we do politics in this city.”

“I see the courage that is embodied in Zohran, and that’s why I am supporting him,” she said. “He is a leader fighting for a better future for this city, and he, like me, knows what it’s like to be attacked, to be called names, to be threatened, to be harassed.”

Mamdani is running against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who runs as an independent candidate after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Democratic Mayor Eric Adams withdrew his reelection bid on Sept. 28.

In the years before Trump took office, James pursued a civil case against The Trump Organization that accused his real estate business of artificially inflating its assets to secure more favorable bank loans.

A Manhattan-based judge in 2024 ordered The Trump Organization to pay a nearly $500 million penalty. In August, a New York appeals court threw out that penalty.
Jack Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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