WASHINGTON (TNND) \u2014 The director of the Justice Department\u2019s Weaponization Working Group, Ed Martin, is calling on New York Attorney General Letitia James to resign from office “as an act of good faith” after starting an investigation into alleged mortgage fraud. <\/p>\n
In a letter to James’ lawyer<\/a>, Abbe Lowell, dated Aug. 12, Martin 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.”<\/p>\n Last week, images taken by the New York Post <\/a>showed Martin in a trench coat standing outside of James’ Brooklyn home with a colleague. <\/p>\n Lowell responded to Martin<\/a> and said the action was “outside the bounds of DOJ and ethics rules” and called it a “truly bizarre, made-for-media stunt.” He included an image from security camera footage and said it looked like Martin was on a “visit to a tourist attraction.”<\/p>\n The letters were the latest salvos in a month-long drama involving Trump\u2019s retribution campaign against James and others who’ve battled him in court and fought his policies.<\/p>\n James has sued the Republican president and his administration dozens of times and last year won a $454 million judgment against Trump and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he lied about the value of his assets on financial statements given to banks. An appeals court has yet to rule on Trump\u2019s bid to overturn that verdict.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the AP reported, the Justice Department subpoenaed James for records related to the civil fraud lawsuit<\/a> and a lawsuit she filed against the National Rifle Association.<\/p>\n Martin\u2019s investigation stems from a letter Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte <\/a>sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi in April, asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging she had \u201cfalsified bank documents and property records.”<\/p>\n