Federal prosecutors have opened a new probe into New York State Attorney General Letitia James, connected to past campaign payments to her longtime hairdresser, who was indicted in Louisiana last month on bank fraud charges.<\/p>\n
Investigators are looking into a total of $36,000 that James\u2019 campaign paid Iyesata Marsh, owner of a Brooklyn hair salon and an event manager, between May 2018 and February 2019 during the AG\u2019s successful reelection bid, according to sources and reports.<\/p>\n
Roughly $22,000 of the payments were for using Marsh\u2019s studio as a campaign office for the last four months of James\u2019s campaign, according to a past Wall Street Journal<\/a> report.<\/p>\n People familiar with the probe told\u00a0the New York Times<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 which first reported the new investigation, along with\u00a0CBS News<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 that prosecutors want to talk with Marsh about past financial transactions involving James and her campaign.<\/p>\n A new probe has been launched by federal prosecutors into NY AG Letitia James tied to her longtime hairdresser. Matthew McDermott<\/p>\n The probe, which is in its early stages, according to the Times, comes as other efforts by the Department of Justice to secure an indictment against James for a separate mortgage fraud allegation failed to stick.<\/p>\n Marsh, of Queens, was indicted by Louisiana federal prosecutors last month on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft tied to the purchase of a Land Rover, according to court documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Iyesata Marsh, aka satastyles, is James\u2019 longtime hairdresser. Instagram\/Iyesata Marsh<\/p>\n She and her nephew allegedly used the identity and personal information of an unidentified woman in Ohio to take out a $48,000 loan to buy the car from a Florida dealership, the filings state.<\/p>\n There is no indication that James, a President Trump foe, is tied to Marsh\u2019s current legal drama.<\/p>\n Prosecutors in October hit James with an indictment in Virginia on two counts of bank fraud and making false statements tied to the mortgage on a home in Norfolk she bought in 2020\u00a0 \u2013 but the case was later tossed by a federal judge.<\/p>\n A grand jury subsequently failed to indict James on new charges another two times, dealing a blow to the DOJ.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n James and her legal team have consistently decried the feds\u2019 actions as a vendetta brought by Trump \u2013 an assertion that was repeated Thursday.<\/p>\n James\u2019 lawyer, Abbe Lowell, scoffed at the federal government\u2019s latest apparent effort, and said the new probe shows the Trump administration is \u201cclearly frustrated by the string of failures in carrying out President Trump\u2019s political vendetta against Attorney General James.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis obedient Justice Department appears to be using its vast resources to try to shake down people based on their association with Ms. James,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cLike their earlier attempts, this attack on Ms. James is doomed to fail.\u00a0The desperation of those working for Trump is palpable and makes indelible the stain already put on this Justice Department.\u201d<\/p>\n Prosecutors want to talk to Marsh and dig up if previous financial transactions were made to James or to her campaign, according to the New York Times and CBS News. Gabriella Bass<\/p>\n A legal rep for Marsh declined comment. <\/p>\n Attempts to reach Marsh were not successful.<\/p>\n