James, Henry face off in New York attorney general’s race

When New Yorkers vote this election season, they’ll select an attorney common for the following 4 years.

Democrat Leticia James is searching for re-election and is being challenged by Republican attorney Michael Henry. The two candidates have completely different views on how the General Prosecutor’s Office ought to perform.

During her first time period in workplace, James gained recognition for her actions towards former President Donald Trump and former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

She sued Trump’s enterprise a number of instances, together with an ongoing one swimsuit that accuses the previous president, the Trump Organization and senior executives of involvement in years of monetary fraud.

“The complaint alleges that Donald Trump has falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and cheat the system,” James stated on Sept. 30. “Thus fooling us all.”

In August, Trump testified in a deposition concerning the authorized motion, the place he referred to as it Fifth Amendment greater than 400 instances as an alternative of answering any of the questions.

James launched two key experiences on the actions of Cuomo and his administration. The first, in late January 2021, revealed that Cuomo and his well being division had undercounted half the variety of nursing house residents who died throughout the top of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Then, in August 2021she issued findings on sexual harassment allegations towards Cuomo.

“The independent investigation has concluded that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed several women,” James stated. “And in doing so, violated federal and state law.”

Cuomo denied the allegations however resigned every week later.

James, the primary African-American and the primary girl to turn out to be New York’s attorney common, was beforehand New York City’s public attorney. Before that, she was a member of the New York City Council, representing components of Brooklyn.

She briefly ran for governor final yr, which might have put her in a main towards Gov. Kathy Hochul, who changed Cuomo. But James finally determined to hunt re-election to her present job.

Her challenger, Republican Michael Henry, doesn’t have a profession historical past in politics. He is a New York-based attorney targeted on industrial litigation. A member of the conservative authorized group, the Federal Society, he has appeared on native and nationwide tv and discuss radio as a authorized and political analyst.

Henry has a lot much less cash to spend than James, and he’s little identified to the general public. But he has been diligently making the rounds all through the marketing campaign, together with a Republican-sponsored rally outdoors Binghamton in late August.

Henry stated James has politicized the Attorney General’s Office by going after massive identify targets like Trump. He stated it was a waste of taxpayers’ cash.

“We all know about Letitia James and her weaponization of her office,” Henry stated.

However, in the case of the report on sexual harassment allegations towards Cuomo, Henry stated James ought to have gone additional and issued legal referrals.

His marketing campaign has additionally targeted on the state’s parole reform legal guidelines, which ended many types of parole. He argues that they need to be abolished.

“It’s time for the government to start working for the people of this state,” Henry stated. “We will work to put the rights of victims before the rights of criminals.”

The Attorney General has no jurisdiction over most types of avenue crime, together with legal guidelines governing parole. This is normally the purview of native legislation enforcement, judges and district attorneys.

However, James, maybe feeling weak on the matter, made headlines when she stated about one Buffalo TV Station in October that maybe probation reform must be reconsidered in the context of different legal justice points. She defined her phrases on the State Capitol just a few days later.

“What I said was, we need to look at a number of issues, including but not limited to parole reform,” stated James, who added that different “partners in crime” additionally should be checked out.

James rejected provides to argue with Henry. The race has tightened in current weeks, however the incumbent nonetheless leads in double-digit polls, 51% to 40% in the most recent. Siena College Survey.