Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY), a Republican who can’t simply neglect the concerns of wealthy Democrats living in his purple New York state district, is getting called out by fellow New York Congressman Dan Goldman (D-NY) for his social media post working to justify the DOJ indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The James indictment for fraud, won by President Trump’s handpicked U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan, is widely seen as part of the President’s vengeance campaign after James who successfully sued Trump and his company for fraud in 2024.
The notion that the President wanted James indicted is not in dispute, as Trump very publicly posted social media instructions to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue James, former FBI Chief James Comey, and Sen. Adam Schiff — saying that without the prosecutions the administration’s “credibility” was at stake.
(It was later reported that Trump’s public post exhorting Bondi to take action was intended to be a direct message to the AG, and was only mistakenly made public.)
Lawler aligned with the DOJ’s James indictment, and in the process with the idea that the prosecution is essentially an eye-for-an-eye move by the President, posting a quote from James about the impact of real estate fraud in which she says the victims are the “hardworking people.”
Lawler concluded that if James’ statement at the time was true, then “it would seem based on her own tweets, she believes that is a prosecutable offense as it resulted in a more favorable loan.”
(James is accused of the same thing — seeking favorable loans through false claims about property — that she got Trump found guilty of, except at very different scales.)
Mike @lawler4ny, are you really defending an indictment brought by an unqualified political hack after Trump directed the AG to charge his political enemy?
You support using the criminal justice system for political revenge?
You want to stake reelection on this abomination? https://t.co/PWgY9Ub7xD
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) October 10, 2025
Rep. Goldman replied twice to Lawyer, asking his Republican colleague “are you really defending an indictment brought by an unqualified political hack after Trump directed the AG to charge his political enemy?” And “You support using the criminal justice system for political revenge? You want to stake reelection on this abomination?”
Slamming Lawler in a second response, Goldman wrote: “I know you’ve become a total lap dog for Trump,@lawler4ny, but you should read this so you have some clue about the case. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll stand up for the rule of law and the Constitution instead of your orange master.”
Popular X influencer Dr. Cole responded aligning with Goldman, writing: “Trump’s directive to indict James exemplifies selective prosecution, targeting political adversaries in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. – This vendetta mirrors his past calls to prosecute foes like Hillary Clinton, eroding judicial independence. – Lawler’s defense ignores the DOJ’s rushed Virginia grand jury, convened just weeks after Trump’s inauguration.”
MAGA replies to Goldman’s umbrage tended to ignore the charges of selective prosecution and focused on the action James stands accused of. One MAGA account, echoing others, wrote to Goldman:
“Did she lie on her application or not? Seems pretty clear @NewYorkStateAG’s stance on prosecuting these crimes! Nobody is above the law!”
Others rebutted the claim that the prosecution was invalid — or at least incommensurate with the alleged crime — with the fact that a grand jury, not the DOJ itself, indicted James. That is a familiar response to those who frequently heard anti-Trump people make the same claim about the myriad indictments of Trump by grand juries, which famously are said to be willing to indict ham sandwiches.