There is an old saying that goes like this: “What goes around comes around” and it very well describes the feelings of many about the indictment of New York state Attorney General Letitia James for “bank fraud.”

The story first broke in April when federal housing regulators accused James of making false statements on mortgage loan applications. In August, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed a special attorney to investigate the allegations regarding the loan after the Federal Housing Finance Agency referred the matter to the Justice Department.

James was indicted in October by a grand jury seated in Virginia, hardly a hotbed of conservatism, on federal mortgage fraud charges related to a three-bedroom house in Norfolk, Va., that she bought in 2020 and financed with a $109,600 loan backed by Fannie Mae. James represented the property as a secondary residence when in fact it had been purchased as investment property.

Federal prosecutors alleged James never intended to live in the house and instead rented it to a family, gaining more favorable loan terms and saving nearly $19,000 over the life of the mortgage.

After the indictment was announced the attorney general, in an almost comical display of cluelessness said, “This is nothing more than a continuation of the President’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”

This from the women who ran on a pledge to get Trump. Once in office she took on a case that no self-respecting U.S. attorney would touch and filed a civil lawsuit in September 2022 against Trump, his two eldest sons, and the Trump Organization stating that Trump overvalued property for the purpose of acquiring bank loans.

I guess she still feels the law doesn’t apply to her.

In February 2024, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, in a shocking display of political hackery and flackery, found Trump liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and committing fraud. He ordered Trump to pay nearly $355 million plus interest, with smaller penalties for his sons and executives

What is ironic is that in part James’ career was built on targeting persons and businesses that submitted forged deeds and fake loan applications in state court. In a 2019 case state prosecutors accused a couple of submitting fake pay stubs, tax returns and bank statement to secure numerous mortgages and in 2021 a developer was charged with forging deeds and falsifying records to get bank financing for property he did not own outright

James should have known that President Trump — schooled in the rough and tumble world of New York property development unlike far too many other Republicans — would not roll over and play dead after this gross miscarriage of justice but seek some sort of retribution for your weaponization of the state judicial system. Next time you fill out a mortgage application tell the truth because you are not above the law.

Along with James, Sen. Adam Schiff is also under investigation for mortgage fraud. The allegations involve a property in Potomac, Md., Schiff purchased in 2003. According to the claims, Schiff listed this home as his primary residence for loan purposes, even though he represented California in Congress and by law a senator must be an “inhabitant” or a resident of the state they represent.

In the first impeachment, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Schiff to lead the team of House managers who would present the case against Trump during his Senate trial. During the trial, Schiff argued Trump’s actions constituted an abuse of presidential power and that the president had shown he could not be trusted to act in the country’s best interests. The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump.

Schiff there is no doubt that all of your blatantly partisan actions during the impeachment of the President and your struggles with the truth during the ”Russia collusion hoax” also made you a target of the the Presidents ire. If you had told the truth back in 2003 on that mortgage application you wouldn’t be in this embarrassing situation now. My advice to all politicians both Republican and Democrat is this: to avoid later embarrassment don’t lie, at least not on mortgage applications.

Finally, former Special Counsel Jack Smith is back in the news. Last week it was announced that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter signed by 16 GOP senators seeking internal records about how FBI agents secretly obtained telephone data from the personal telephones of at least eight GOP senators and one Congressman.

Called Arctic Frost, these investigations began in April 2022 and were transferred to Smith’s office In November 2022 and eventually became part of Smith’s Jan. 6 prosecution of President Trump. However, the scope of Arctic Frost grew to include an investigation of 92 Republican-aligned individuals and organizations that included Charlie Kirk’s “Turning Point USA” and the “Republican National Committee.”

Jack, what were you really up to?

Democrats have made a habit of accusing Trump of attempting to assume dictatorial power while calling Republicans fascists or Nazis. Meanwhile Smith’s investigators were utilizing the same activities that were used in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union where innocent citizens were regularly spied on. One thing many of us have learned is that when Democrats accuse Republicans of doing something it is a clear signal that it is something they themselves are doing.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com.