AG Letitia James aide accused of targeting Trump was fired by his admin, won $795K in discrimination case
A bureau chief in state Attorney General Letitia James’ office accused of trying to dig up dirt on President Trump once sued his administration for discrimination — and won a hefty settlement.Investor Protection Bureau Chief Shamiso Maswoswe, who allegedly ordered a prosecutor to target people and groups “affiliated with Donald Trump,” sued the Department of Justice claiming the first Trump administration discriminated against her on race, sex and child care grounds, court papers show.The complaint, filed in 2021, claimed Trump’s DOJ unfairly fired her in December 2017 because she is a black woman and was required to care for her premature baby while on the job.“The [DOJ] Public Integrity Section terminated Ms.Maswoswe on the same day that she completed a successful sentencing hearing in the aftermath of her large and highly publicized jury trial victory,” the complaint said.
“Ms.Maswoswe and her colleagues at the Public Integrity Section were celebrating her victory when she received notice that she was being summoned to meet with Human Resources.”Maswoswe settled the case for $795,000 in 2023 in federal court in Washington DC, the records show.
That was during the Biden administration and before Trump returned to office.Mawoswe is now immersed in controversy after a prosecutor in her office, former Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Matthew Wiesenfeld, claimed in a since-deleted email to some 2,000 colleagues that she told him to target Trump and his political allies, as first reported by the Times-Union.“If you believe Trump is using the [Department of Justice] attorneys to prosecute his enemies and further his political interests, you should fine it equally troubling that Tish [James] is doing exactly the same thing,” Wiesenfeld allegedly wrote in the Friday email.“I ask you that you not serve as Tish’s personal attorneys by targeting her political enemies.”Wiesenfeld was placed on paid administrative leave and has not spoken pub...