The Letitia Files: How Racial Politics Fueled Letitia James’s Political Ambitions

Guest post by Joel Gilbert

Would-be politicians have politics in their DNA.

The signs are there from the beginning and are visible when they are in high school and college. Barack Obama was famously elected as the editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Michelle Obama was featured heavily in her high school and college yearbooks as a member of the student council, class treasurer, dance class, singing class, French Club, and more.

Letitia James, however, was something of a ghost during her academic career. Beginning with her high school years at Fort Washington in Brooklyn in 1972, James does not appear in any high school yearbooks whatsoever.

She is not listed as being in any high school organization, musical group, debate group, dance club, or sports team. Nor is she even featured in any high school class photo.

The same goes for James’s six years attending CUNY’s Lehman College in the Bronx. I visited the campus library last week, where I examined the yearbooks from 1976-1982, the six years that James attended.

Once again, James does not appear at all in any yearbook – no activities, no organizations, and no class photos.

An examination of James’s Howard University Law School yearbooks shows a similar pattern – with just one single class photo from her graduation year in 1986. That’s it. That is all she has to show for the entirety of her academic career.

So, where and when did Letitia James get the idea to be a politician, and a radicalized one, no less? All signs point to her ten-year mentorship working for radical New York City State Assemblyman Al Vann in the 1990s.

“I was a student of Al Vann,” James has said. “He was all about institutional building and he coined the phrase ‘community empowerment.’ I basically stalked him because I wanted to work for him. Ultimately, he relented and I was his counsel for 10 years.” Vann deeply influenced James’s interest in racial politics.

A classic “race man.” Al Vann was a co-founder of the African American Teachers Association and a major figure in NYC’s Black political empowerment movement. Vann was one to play the race card even when that play had no validity.

In a 2006 incident, one which assuredly influenced James, five NYPD officers opened fire on a fleeing auto after the intoxicated driver Sean Bell – a “Queens bridegroom” in press reports – tried to run over Officer Gescard Isnora. Bell was killed, and his two passengers were injured. Vann was outspoken in the protests that followed.

On one occasion, Vann interrupted a City Council meeting to say how tired he was of attending the funerals of young black men killed by cops.

“We have to admit what the problem is. Yes, the problem is institutional racism,” said Vann, ignoring the fact that three of the five shooters were black, including Isnora, who initiated the shooting.

Working with Vann encouraged James to begin her own political career. After he termed out of the State Assembly, Vann ran successfully for City Council in 2001.

James followed him to the City Council two years later with Vann’s helpful endorsement.

Letitia James’s status as City Councilwoman did not discourage her from continuing the petty corruptions she had embarked on while under Vann’s mentorship.

Over the past six weeks, I have detailed the evidence of mortgage fraud by James in my series “The Letitia Files” on The Gateway Pundit site. As I discovered, in obtaining loans and refinancing for her building, James consistently claimed only four apartment units.

This claim contrasts with the official Certificate of Occupancy (CoO), which states it is a five-unit building.

Lying about the number of units allowed James to obtain lower residential interest rates and insurance rates, as well as qualify for a government HAMP loan at only 2.7%.

According to its official Making Home Affordable Program Handbook, “Eligibility is limited to owner-occupied properties with no more than four units.”

In her HAMP application, James also submitted a financial hardship statement in her application, declaring, “I am experiencing a financial hardship, and as a result, (i) I am in default under the Loan Documents, and (ii) I do not have sufficient income or access to sufficient liquid assets to make the monthly mortgage payments now or in the future.”

This despite the fact she earned a total of about $ 14,000 per month from her her position on the City Council of New York City, her work at CUNY and her rental income.

My research, along with Sam Antar’s, appeared in the referral of James to the Department of Justice by Bill Pulte, Director of the United States Federal Housing Finance Agency, for criminal prosecution. James has since hired Democrat attorney Abbie Lowell.

Now there are indications that Attorney General Pam Bondi is moving forward with an investigation of Letitia James. Fox News contributor Paul Mauro has stated his sources say “a lot is coming on the Letitia James front”.

Letitia James’ ghostlike academic career suggests that she was not a born politician. Racial animus and rank opportunism seem to have awakened the sleeping pol within. Like Captain Ahab, Letitia James staked her career on landing a great white whale. In both cases, the whale won.

Joel Gilbert, is a Los Angeles-based film producer, and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.

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