New York Attorney General Letitia James, once celebrated for her high-profile legal battles against Donald Trump, now faces serious legal troubles of her own as she enters a difficult 2026 re-election race. James is under federal investigation over allegations she misrepresented details on a mortgage application for a Brooklyn property—claims her legal team dismisses as clerical errors, but which have drawn FBI scrutiny and ethics complaints from watchdog group America First Legal.

This investigation comes just as Donald Trump, now President again, leads a Department of Justice probing James for potential misconduct. Critics argue this is political retaliation, but Republicans, including challenger Michael Henry, see it as an opportunity. Henry, who nearly beat James in 2022, has rallied thousands of donors and is campaigning to clean up and depoliticize the Attorney General’s office.

James’s problems are amplified by shifting political winds in New York. Trump gained ground in key Democratic areas in 2024, and Governor Kathy Hochul now faces a primary challenge—evidence of internal party unrest that could drag James down with it. Suburban voters, anxious about crime and economic issues, are showing growing interest in Republican candidates.

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig criticized James’s earlier legal pursuit of Trump as politically motivated, pointing to her campaign pledges to “resist” and sue him before seeing any evidence. Although she won a $500 million civil fraud judgment, critics claim the case lacked real victims and was built on weak legal ground.

Once a progressive icon, James now faces the question: can she survive politically—or even legally—in the very system she once wielded against her rivals?