Hochul backs James after indictment, cites justice system weaponization

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul offered her support to Empire State Attorney General Letitia James when she was first indicted on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, following years in which the New York governor celebrated legal challenges against President Donald Trump in her state and elsewhere.

“New Yorkers know @NewYorkStateAGJames for his integrity, independence, and relentless fight for justice. What we’re seeing today is nothing more than the Justice Department being weaponized to punish those who hold the powerful accountable,” Hochul wrote to

A grand jury in Virginia indicted James on Thursday, months after Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte alleged in a criminal complaint filed with the Justice Department in April that James falsified mortgage records to obtain more affordable loans. He faces charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

Pulte alleged in the criminal complaint that James purchased a home in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2023, but identified it as his primary residence in mortgage documents and on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac forms. James is legally required to live in New York as a statewide elected official.

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“No one is above the law. The charges alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and monumental violations of the public trust,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan said when James was charged. he said. “The facts and law in this case are clear, and we will continue to pursue them to ensure justice is served.”

Hochul and other prominent Democrats pointed to the indictment’s allegation of “political armament” and political persecution by the administration against Trump’s foe.

James and Trump have long been at odds with each other; James is campaigning for the attorney general post in 2018, promising to pursue legal charges against Trump if elected. His office ultimately filed nearly 100 legal challenges against the first Trump administration and vowed to continue legal battles upon Trump’s re-election in November 2024.

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Trump accused Democrats of using the law, understood as using the courts to gain political advantage, as a last resort to prevent him from running for the Oval Office again in the 2024 cycle and securing another federal election victory. Trump, for example, was indicted and convicted in New York in a case accusing him of falsifying business records; He was indicted on racketeering charges in Georgia, faces federal criminal charges for allegedly mishandling sensitive government documents after his first presidency, and another alleges he tried to overturn the 2020 election results.

“I support free enterprise,” Gov. Hochul said at an event in the Hamptons on Saturday in response to socialist Zohran Mamdani’s plan to open government-run grocery stores. (Julia Nikhinson, File/Associated Press)

Trump also faced civil lawsuits, including James accusing Trump and the Trump Organization of inflating asset values ​​in a lawsuit that found Trump and his companies liable.

Fox News Digital took a look at Hochul’s previous comments about Trump and the legal cases that plagued the president during his first administration, serving as the 45th and 47th president pro tempore, and found that the governor frequently praised what conservatives describe as “statutory law.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s office for comment about his past remarks regarding lawsuits against Trump, in which he pushed the narrative that the administration is weaponizing the justice system against political enemies, but did not receive an immediate response. Fox Digital specifically asked if Hochul stood by his previous comments that “no one is above the law” considering James’ indictment, but did not receive a response.

Trump became the first and only president to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives; Hochul revisited the first impeachment inquiry in 2019; This led to him being impeached for allegedly soliciting foreign intervention from Ukraine, accusing him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. re-election Our efforts in 2020 show that no one is above the law.

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“It’s really simple; NO ONE is above the law. Not now, not ever,” he posted on Facebook. “Congress Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats are holding the president accountable because they have a patriotic duty to protect our Constitution, not to play partisan politics.”

Letitia James and Kathy Hochul pose after the rally at 1199 SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Headquarters. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

While Trump is on trial for the civil fraud lawsuit filed by James, which accuses Trump and the Trump Organization of financial fraud, Hochul said he has “full confidence” that he will be held accountable, but also noted that he had “tantrums” in court.

In November 2023, “Former President Donald Trump is testifying in an unprecedented civil lawsuit filed by our Attorney General Tish James. Far from telling the truth as he should, he throws a tantrum on the witness stand and verbally attacks judges and courtroom staff. His behavior is a disgrace, and I have every confidence that Donald Trump will be held accountable for his actions.” He said in November 2023.

A month later, the Democratic governor appeared to back a lawsuit aimed at preventing Trump’s name from appearing on ballots for the 2024 election.

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A group of Colorado voters filed a lawsuit arguing that Trump should be deemed ineligible to hold political office in 2022 under a Civil War-era insurrection provision. The lawsuit alleged that Trump’s action on January 6, 2021, when his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that bars U.S. officials, members of Congress, or officials of state legislatures who are “engaged in insurrection or insurrection” against the Constitution from holding political office.

When the Colorado Supreme Court found him ineligible to run for president in December 2023, Hochul said, “January 6 will live in infamy. Shame on us if we forget that.” “Shame on us for what happened to this country when the Capitol, where I walked proudly as a member of Congress, was literally under siege, when people died, when people were injured; if he doesn’t take responsibility for that, the American people should hold him accountable. That’s what started in Colorado.”

The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in March 2024 that Trump should continue voting.

President Donald Trump watches the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

After Trump was found liable in James’ civil fraud case in 2023 and ordered to pay a $355 million fine, Hochul sought to assuage concerns from other business leaders that they might face similar lawsuits by arguing that Trump and his “behavior” set him apart from others.

“I think this is a truly extraordinary, extraordinary situation, and that law-abiding, rule-abiding New Yorkers who are business people have nothing to worry about, because they are very different from Donald Trump and his behavior,” Hochul said on his radio show “The Cats Roundtable” in February 2024.

An appeals court vacated the fine in the case in early 2025.

Later that year, Hochul celebrated that “no one is above the law” when Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in NY v. Trump.

“Today’s decision reaffirms that no one is above the law,” Hochul said in a statement in May 2024. he said. “As we prepare for a decision in this case, I have directed my Administration to coordinate closely with local and federal law enforcement, and we continue to monitor the situation. We are committed to protecting the safety of all New Yorkers and the integrity of our judicial system.”

As elections approached in 2024, Hochul accused Trump of being a “hustler” and “whore” who lacked New York values ​​while pointing to the NY v. Trump case.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, hold a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA on August 20, 2024. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

“Donald Trump was born a New Yorker but ended up a fraud, a womanizer and a criminal. He wasn’t raised with the New York values ​​that I know,” Hochul said in his 2024 Democratic National Convention speech in Chicago. “Trust me America, if you think you’re tired of Donald Trump, talk to a New Yorker. 78 long years of this, fraud, tax evasion, fake university, shady charities.”

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Trump won the Republican primary in the 2024 election cycle, sweeping seven battleground states on Election Day and defeating then-Vice President Kamala Harris to replace then-President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

Hochul and James held a press conference the day after the election and promised to fight Trump’s agenda while honoring the election results.

“While we respect the results of this election and work with everyone in our state who wants to partner in achieving our administration’s goals, that does not mean we will accept an agenda from Washington that dismantles the rights New Yorkers have long enjoyed,” Hochul said on Nov. 6, 2024.

“We did not expect this outcome, but we are prepared to respond to it,” James said at the same press conference. “And my office has been preparing for a few months because we’ve been here before,” James said. “We have faced this challenge before and used the rule of law to fight it. And we are ready to fight it again because as attorney general of this great state, it is my duty to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law. And I will not shirk that responsibility.”

Trump has harshly criticized the numerous lawsuits filed against him in recent years, denying wrongdoing and describing them as attempts by his political enemies to prevent him from running again and winning.

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“They’ve been playing with the courts, as you know, they’ve been playing with the courts for four years now. They probably got me more votes because I got the most votes ever received by a Republican, by far, actually. And, you know, we had a great election, I guess it didn’t work. But even today they’re playing with the courts, and they’re friendly judges trying to make everybody happy… That’s called law, that’s called weaponizing justice,” Trump said in January, just days before he was sworn into office again.