Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai S. Nelson issued the below statement in response to the indictment of New York Attorney General Leticia James. Reportedly, the indictment is part of the Trump administration’s attempts to prosecute the perceived political opponents of the president. Attorney General James won a civil fraud case against President Trump in 2024 — a ruling he has since appealed.
“LDF firmly denounces any indictment with the sole goal of partisan or discriminatory retribution. Our legal system should not be a playground for settling personal scores, but rather a system designed to pursue and ensure justice through the thoughtful application of our laws.
“The political prosecution of Attorney General James is yet another example of a truly disturbing pattern within this administration of attacking and punishing Black public servants, especially Black women, who it personally and politically opposes. Attorney General James is the first woman to hold the office of New York Attorney General and the first Black woman to hold statewide office in New York. She is a trailblazer and a dedicated leader for New Yorkers of all backgrounds.
“This administration continuously demonstrates their desire to harass those it disagrees with while starving resources from, and even dismantling entirely, critical civil rights offices within the executive branch. We refuse to accept the increasingly authoritarian actions of this administration — and we must strongly resist every step this administration takes to dismantle the institutional norms of our legal system and our democracy.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957 — although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
