Report: New York AG prosecutor says he was pressured to ‘target’ Trump, allies

A prosecutor in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office alleged that he was instructed to pursue President Donald Trump and several organizations linked to Trump without a credible reason for targeting them, according to an internal email first reported by the Times Union. 

In an email sent Aug. 28 to more than 2,000 employees in James’ office, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld accused his supervisor, Investor Protection Bureau chief Shamiso Maswoswe, of directing him to “find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump,” the Union reported.

Wiesenfeld reportedly said he was instructed to “target Trump himself, Truth Social, Hewlett Packard” without what he considered a credible basis for investigating those individuals and organizations. Hewlett Packard recently acquired Juniper Networks in a deal James and other state attorneys general opposed after the Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the merger. 

The email was quickly removed from the office’s servers and disappeared from employees’ inboxes, according to the Union, which cited three people familiar with the communications. The outlet reported that James’ general counsel subsequently sent an office-wide message describing the incident as an internal matter, and the office placed Wiesenfeld on paid administrative leave. 

“This is a personnel matter,” James’ office said in a statement provided to NPR affiliate WRVO Public Media. “The Office of the Attorney General is committed to upholding New York’s laws and protecting the rights and freedoms of all New Yorkers, regardless of political beliefs. We strongly reject any assertion to the contrary.”

In the email, Wiesenfeld accused James of using her office in the same way critics have accused the Trump administration of using the DOJ against political opponents.

“If you believe Trump is using (Department of Justice) attorneys to prosecute his enemies and further his political interests, you should find it equally troubling that Tish is doing exactly the same thing,” Wiesenfeld wrote, according to multiple reports.

He reportedly urged colleagues not to act as James’ “personal attorneys” by pursuing her political opponents and argued that prosecutors should identify crimes first rather than select targets and then search for potential wrongdoing.

Wiesenfeld also alleged that James’ office had devoted significant taxpayer resources to targets he viewed as politically advantageous while neglecting other issues such as nonprofit and Medicaid fraud in the state, The Federalist reported. 

The controversy has since drawn federal attention. The New York Post reported Sept. 2, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Wiesenfeld met for “several hours” with FBI personnel and DOJ attorneys to discuss his allegations. 

In a statement cited by the Post, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Wiesenfeld’s allegations represent “more proof of the weaponization of the justice system by Letitia James to target President Trump and her political opponents.” 

“The far-left Democrats’ lawfare against President Trump [and] his family must stop,” Bis added, according to the outlet.

James and Trump have been political adversaries for years. During her campaign for attorney general, James repeatedly promised to investigate Trump and his businesses. Trump has also publicly called for James to be prosecuted. 

James’ office filed a lawsuit in 2022 alleging that Trump and his company fraudulently inflated asset values in financial statements. A trial judge ultimately imposed more than $450 million in penalties against Trump, but a divided state appeals court threw out the financial penalty in August 2025 while leaving portions of the fraud finding intact. James appealed the decision to New York’s highest court, and the case remains pending.