JAMES INDICTED: New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on Thursday became the second high-profile Trump adversary to face criminal charges, weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) began prosecuting former FBI Director James Comey.
James was indicted on charges of mortgage fraud. The DOJ had been building a case against her for months after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte made a criminal referral.
Pulte alleged that James claimed a home in Virginia as her primary residence while living and holding office in New York. James has repeatedly denied the allegations and argued the case is without merit.
The case was brought in the Eastern District of Virginia under interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who also brought charges against Comey last month. Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing an official proceeding.
Halligan, a former member of Trump's legal defense team who served as a White House aide, was tapped for the role after former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert resigned under pressure from the administration. Siebert reportedly did not feel there was sufficient evidence to bring charges against Comey or James, creating scrutiny from higher-level officials.
Democrats slammed James's indictment, viewing it as the latest example of the president pressuring the DOJ to go after his political enemies.
"This is what tyranny looks like. President Trump is using the Justice Department as his personal attack dog, targeting Attorney General Tish James for the 'crime' of prosecuting him for fraud—and winning," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
James has been the subject of repeated attacks from Trump since she sued him, his adult children and the Trump Organization for fraud, winning a nearly $500 million judgement. An appeals court voided the penalty that Trump was required to pay but kept the ruling against him intact. Trump and James have both appealed that decision.
The charges against James come after Trump made a Truth Social post calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring cases against her, Comey and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). After Comey, who Trump fired in his first term, was indicted, Trump denied having a "list" of people he wants to see face charges but he said he expected additional cases would be coming.
Halligan maintained the case against James is about the law.
"No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public's trust," she said in a statement. "The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served."
But that won't calm critics who argue Trump is doing what he had long accused his opponents of: politicizing the justice system and using his power to ensure his adversaries are prosecuted.
James called the charges a "continuation of the president's desperate weaponization of our justice system" and asserted the case was brought because she "did her job" as New York's top prosecutor.
"These charges are baseless, and the president's own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost," James said.
▪ The Hill: Read Letitia James's indictment.
▪ The Wall Street Journal: "Inside the Justice Department where the president calls the shots."
VIRGINIA DEBATE: Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears faced off in the only debate of the Virginia gubernatorial race on Thursday night.
Hosted by WAVY-10, an NBC affiliate owned by The Hill's parent company Nexstar Media Group, the debate featured frequent interruptions in which Earle-Sears regularly sought to put Spanberger on defense.
An early, dramatic moment came when moderators asked Spanberger about the texts state attorney general candidate Jay Jones (D) sent in 2022 hoping for violence against then-state House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R). Spanberger said Jones's messages were "absolutely abhorrent" but stopped short of calling on him to drop out, saying the decision is up to the voters.
Earle-Sears repeatedly urged Spanberger to call for him to drop out, but Spanberger refused to respond directly to her.
With polls showing her trailing Spanberger, Earle-Sears needed a big night to try to turn the race around, and she seemed to take every opportunity. She repeatedly called Spanberger a liar and interrupted her while she was speaking.
Spanberger also pushed back against her opponent, criticizing Earle-Sears's stance on abortion and LGBTQ rights.
But how much the debate will matter in the election remains to be seen.
The Hill's Julia Manchester has five takeaways from the night.
SHUTDOWN TENSIONS RISE: Members of Congress are growing increasingly frustrated as the government shutdown reaches its 10th day without a clear end in sight.
Two high-profile confrontations took place on a single day this week.
First, Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly (D) and Ruben Gallego (D) held an impromptu press conference outside House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) office on Wednesday, calling on him to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who won a special election to fill her late father's seat last month.
Johnson came out of his office midway through the press gaggle and got into a back-and-forth with the two senators.
"We're going to do that as soon as we get back to work, but we need the lights turned back on, so we encourage both of you to go open the government," the Speaker said.
Democrats pushed back, noting that once she's sworn in Grijalva is expected to sign a discharge petition on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, delivering the required signatures to force a vote on the House floor.
"This is an excuse so she doesn't sign on to that," Gallego responded.
Johnson rejected that as "absurd." The Speaker has said the Epstein files isn't the reason he's delayed swearing her in, and he said he will do so once the government is reopened and the House returns to business.
A second confrontation took place later in the day between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.). Lawler pressed Jeffries on why he would not back his proposal to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies by one year. Jeffries has rejected Lawler's proposal as a "nonstarter."
"You're making a show of this to make yourself relevant," Jeffries told Lawler. "You're embarrassing yourself right now."
"It's sad. It's sad. You could easily sign on to this," Lawler said. "The only embarrassment here is you."
The Hill's Al Weaver and Emily Brooks report on how both incidents are emblematic of a Capitol Hill that may blow its top if the shutdown doesn't end soon.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Johnson to bring the House back in session to hold a vote on providing military pay amid the shutdown. Unless Congress acts, military members are set to miss their first paycheck on Oct. 15, affecting more than 1.3 million active service members.
Johnson blamed Democrats for the possible gap in pay for service members.
But Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) broke with the rest of House Republican leadership in calling for a vote on a bill to pay military members during the shutdown.
"As a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and the longtime representative for Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division, I have cosponsored and am calling for a floor vote on the Pay Our Troops Act to ensure that our brave and dedicated servicemembers are paid," Stefanik said in a post on the social platform X.
The bill is also backed by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), the chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
Johnson was asked about military pay during an appearance on C-SPAN on Thursday during which he took calls from viewers, but he pointed the finger at Democrats for shutting down the government.
▪ The Hill: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatens to fire air traffic controllers who skip work during shutdown.
▪ The Atlantic: Americans are about to feel the government shutdown.
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