New York Attorney General Letitia James loves to portray herself as an untiring champion of justice, fearlessly holding the powerful accountable. Except the news keeps bringing up work she somehow never bothers to do, whether it’s pursuing Medicaid fraud, tracking down tax cheats or helping fight street crime. Federal agents on Tuesday raided at least two Brooklyn adult day-care facilities as part of a huge investigation of more than 100 sites suspected of Medicaid fraud involving everything from money laundering to kickbacks.
Medicaid fraudsters steal billions — quite possibly tens of billions — in this state, while James has perhaps the worst record of any state AG in probing such crimes. Or consider convicted Wall Street con man Daniel Gordon, who owes the state a staggering $59 million in unpaid taxes and penalties, yet is living it up out in California; James’ office has done virtually nothing to pursue him. Yes, she formally needs state tax authorities to request her assistance, but that shouldn’t take more than a simple phone call; instead, she twiddles her thumbs. Tish James doesn’t really want to fight crime, as challenger Saritha Komatireddy keeps proving. Also on Tuesday, the GOP candidate rallied with the families of six serious crime victims, regular New Yorkers furious at how James consistently fails to confront the public-safety crisis head-on.
