by Natalia Mittelstadt
Justice Department Special Attorney for Mortgage Fraud Ed Martin has urged New York Attorney General Letitia James to resign as his office investigates her for potential mortgage fraud.
Martin sent a letter to James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, on Aug. 12 in which he said James “would best serve the ‘good of the state and nation’ by resigning from office to address the issues in the referral. Her resignation from office would give the people of New York and America more peace than proceeding. I would take this as an act of good faith.”
The Associated Press obtained and reported on the letter Tuesday.
Martin also alleges Lowell leaked an earlier letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi to the media and asked him to try to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
“To that end, I specifically ask that you redouble your efforts to not leak this confidential letter,” Martin wrote. “I prefer not to have to move in court to stop you or your client from leaking.”
The letter was dated four days after Martin began his investigation into James, which is focusing on allegations that she falsified property records to secure favorable loan terms.
On Friday, Martin was outside of James’ Brooklyn home with New York Post reporters.
Lowell responded to Martin’s letter on Monday, claiming that the DOJ lawyer’s request for James to resign defied DOJ standards and codes of professional responsibility and legal ethics.
“DOJ has firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends,” Lowell wrote. “This is ever more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the opposite party of the Administration. Let me be clear: that will not happen here.”
Lowell also criticized Martin’s visit to James’ home as a “truly bizarre, made-for-media stunt,” that was “outside the bounds” of DOJ rules. He included a picture from security camera footage showing Martin, in a trench coat, posing for a photo in front of James’ townhouse, saying the prosecutor looked as if he were on a “visit to a tourist attraction.”
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Natalia Mittelstadt is a reporter for Just the News.
Photo “Letitia James” by Letitia James.
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Author: Just the News
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