ATG NEWS RELEASE: JOINT STATEMENT OF 22 ATTORNEYS GENERAL CONDEMNING RETALIATORY PROSECUTION OF NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

JOSH GREEN, M.D.

GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

KA ʻOIHANA O KA LOIO KUHINA

ANNE LOPEZ

ATTORNEY GENERAL

LOIO KUHINA

JOINT STATEMENT OF 22 ATTORNEYS GENERAL CONDEMNING RETALIATORY PROSECUTION OF NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES

News Release 2025-88

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       

Oct. 13, 2025

HONOLULU – Attorney General Anne Lopez today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia to issue a joint statement condemning the Trump administration’s retaliatory prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James: 

“We resoundingly denounce the Trump administration’s retaliatory prosecution of our colleague, New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

Since a New York State judge found Donald Trump liable for years of business fraud and illegal dealings in a case led by Attorney General James, Mr. Trump has repeatedly broadcast his desire to arrest and prosecute her. Mr. Trump has now done just that — demanding an indictment of Attorney General James even though the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert resigned rather than seeking an indictment.

None of us, whether our states’ top legal officials or members of the public, should stand idly by while justice is upended and this president uses the criminal legal system to pursue his personal vendettas. The Trump-directed arms of the executive branch have arrested a sitting member of Congress, charged the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and criminally investigated a governor of the Federal Reserve, among other retaliatory and politically motivated pursuits. These kinds of prosecutorial abuses are the hallmarks of police states and authoritarian regimes — not America’s democracy. 

We stand in solidarity with Attorney General James and others who have been targeted for reasons wholly antithetical to the pursuit of justice. We commit to doing all we can to ensure that the rule of law prevails and to resist the further corrosion of our system of justice.”

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Media contacts:

Dave Day

Special Assistant to the Attorney General

Office: 808-586-1284                                                  

Email: [email protected]        

Web: http://ag.hawaii.gov

Toni Schwartz
Public Information Officer
Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General
Office: 808-586-1252
Cell: 808-379-9249
Email: [email protected]