As lawyers, public servants, and defenders of the rule of law, we are deeply alarmed by theefforts of the U.S. Department of Justice to engage the machinery of criminal law enforcement ina campaign of intimidation against New York Attorney General Letitia James.The Department is pursuing a pattern of harassment and intimidation against AG James inretaliation for her having pursued legitimate claims of financial fraud against President Trump andhis business organization under New York state law. A state attorney general has an undeniableethical duty and professional responsibility to seek justice, even when it involves bringing claimsagainst the powerful.

As retribution against AG James for discharging such a responsibility, the Department ofJustice has launched a criminal investigation against AG James helmed by Edward R. Martin Jr.,director of the Department’s absurdly named “Weaponization Working Group.” Upon beingnamed to lead the investigation, Mr. Martin publicly vowed that he would “stick the landing,”suggesting a preordained outcome. Last week, Mr. Martin dashed off a crude letter to AG James’spersonal attorney suggesting AG James should resign from office “as an act of good faith.” A fewdays later, he appeared at the doorstep of AG James’s home in Brooklyn, New York, posing forpress photographs. Mr. Martin’s antics and actions amount more to those of a showman than tothose of a representative of the United States government charged with ensuring that impartiality,integrity, and fairness are the cornerstones of criminal investigation and enforcement.