A former prosecutor in the New York attorney general’s office claims that Letitia James is threatening him after he blew the whistle on a scheme to take down President Trump – as he refuses to delete evidence of the alleged corruption.
Daniel Wiesenfeld, who worked in James’ Investor Protection Bureau before he was axed last month, defiantly told his former boss Monday he would not be handing over “confidential and privileged” materials, according to email obtained by the Times-Union.
The blistering email also included a photo of a detective’s business card from the AG’s Executive Protection Detail that had been jammed into his front door, the paper reported.
“I am in receipt of your September 18th letter threatening me with ‘professional discipline, as well as civil and/or criminal action’ and your subsequent September 30th letter providing a deadline by 5pm today for me to confirm my destruction of your ‘confidential and/or privileged information’,” Wiesenfeld wrote Monday.
“You have also commissioned your ‘protection detail’ detectives to repeatedly hound me by banging on my front door. Attached is the business card one of them left in my door after their latest intrusion,” he continued in the email, which was also sent to Kumiki Gibson, general counsel in the attorney general’s office.
Wiesenfeld said he understands that James is “fearful” of what he might do with the “‘confidential and privileged’ materials” ahead of this year’s election, in which James is on the ballot — but said he would not be intimidated by her threats.
“These documents are simply evidence and your threats will not compel me to destroy such evidence,” he said. “If anything, carrying out your threats by bringing this to a legal forum will make this information public.”
Wiesenfeld’s latest email comes months after he sent an agency-wide email to the AG’s office claiming his supervisor ordered him to find and pursue crimes committed by those affiliated with Trump — James’ longstanding rival.
“If you believe Trump is using the [Department of Justice] attorneys to prosecute his enemies and further his political interests, you should find it equally troubling that Tish [James] is doing exactly the same thing,” Wiesenfeld allegedly wrote in the message, which went to some 2,000 staffers before it was deleted.
Wiesenfeld was subsequently placed on administrative leave and fired on Sept. 5, according to the Times Union.
A rep for James dismissed the controversy as “a personnel matter” in a statement in August.
“The office of the attorney general is committed to upholding New York’s laws and protecting the rights and freedoms of all New Yorkers, regardless of political beliefs,” the statement said. “We strongly reject any assertion to the contrary.”
