New York Attorney General Letitia James has accused the Trump administration of deliberately stoking fear and undermining confidence in U.S. democratic institutions following an FBI raid at a Georgia election office tied to the 2020 presidential election.
The search, carried out this week at a Fulton County elections facility, has drawn sharp criticism from local officials and federal lawmakers, who questioned both the necessity of the operation and the presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during the raid. The action has intensified scrutiny of the administration’s broader push to obtain election-related data from states ahead of the midterm elections.
In an interview aired Saturday on MS NOW, James framed the raid as part of a wider pressure campaign designed to intimidate election officials and erode public trust.
“It’s about violence. It’s about terror. It’s about fear. It’s about, again, questioning our institutions, the right to vote, and it’s all about the midterms, all of that, and more,” James said.
She added, “And so, it’s critically important that individuals understand that what they are trying to do is sow mistrust in our institutions, in our political institutions, and we will just now allow it.”
James’ remarks came amid growing backlash to the Justice Department’s demand that states turn over sensitive election records, including full voter rolls that contain personal data such as driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. The DOJ has sued more than a dozen states, including New York, for refusing to comply with the request.
Tensions escalated further last week when Attorney General Pam Bondi asked Minnesota officials to provide voter roll data as a condition for ending federal immigration enforcement operations in the state. The request prompted immediate criticism from Democratic leaders. The same day, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti, marking the second fatal shooting involving a federal officer this month and deepening political outrage.
James, along with 22 other state attorneys general, condemned Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a Jan. 29 letter, accusing them of attempting to intimidate states through what they described as “thinly-veiled federal threats.” The attorneys general labeled the actions unlawful.
“It is nothing more than an attempt to get information that they would not otherwise get in court. That’s all that this is. And what we say is, ‘no,’” James said of the DOJ’s data demands.
The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of a long-running political and legal feud between James and President Trump. During her 2018 campaign for attorney general, James called Trump “illegitimate” and vowed to pursue investigations into his business practices.
That effort culminated in a 2022 civil lawsuit accusing Trump and several family members of inflating asset values to secure tax and insurance advantages. In 2024, a judge found Trump liable for fraud and imposed a $354.8 million penalty plus interest, though the fine was later dismissed by an appeals court.
In August 2025, Trump’s Justice Department opened a separate investigation into James’ office, appointing a federal prosecutor to examine allegations that she falsely claimed a Virginia property as her primary residence to obtain favorable loan terms. James was later indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
That case was ultimately dismissed, and federal prosecutors have so far been unable to secure a new indictment.
