The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York says he is unaware of the details surrounding the FBI and U.S. Attorney General’s mortgage fraud investigation of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In April, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department, alleging James falsified bank documents and property records.
United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York John Sarcone was asked about a statement included in a Times Union article attributed to him Thursday. It said the investigation is being handled “by the main (Department of) Justice and the Albany FBI field office.” Sarcone said he was "unaware of the details of the case."
The statement cited by the newspaper goes on to say : “We stand prepared to act in the capacity that we need to when and if we are informed there’s a charge to be made. Unlike Letitia James, who unethically ran around the state campaigning on getting Donald Trump… my office conducts itself in a manner that is proper and professional.”
Pressed by reporters, Sarcone said he has “heard about the statement.”
"And I called the reporter and told them that I'm not going to say you misquoted it, but what was meant by that statement was whatever is reported in the media is all that my office is aware of, and so I stand by that statement," Sarcone said.
WAMC reached out to AG James' office and to the U.S. Department of Justice for comment.
Sarcone was speaking during a press conference at FBI headquarters in Albany where he and FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office Craig Tremaroli say an operation resulted in the arrest of 205 child sex abuse offenders nationwide, including eight in the district. Tremaroli says FBI Albany was in the top five FBI field offices with the most federal arrests in the country. He thanked the task force for playing a crucial role in the arrests.
“Make no mistake about it, these might be federal arrests, but not a single one of them would have happened without every agency represented here today," remaroli said. "I want to take a moment to talk about the task force and the agencies representing them. The Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is a partnership with eight agencies represented with me today. Cohoes, Colonie, Rotterdam, Saratoga Springs and Watervliet police departments, Saratoga County Sheriff's Office and the New York State Police. This team works to aggressively investigate all threats of abuse and exploitation to children, not only from within our community, but also throughout the country and world.”
Cohoes police Chief Todd Waldin says joining the task force was the right decision for the Spindle City.
“Last year, we had a child exploitation case, and we reached out to the FBI for assistance. And I'm happy to say that in that case, the offender received a sentence of 30 years, handed down in federal court. That was the impetus, if you will, for us deciding maybe we should be a part of this, you know, on a higher level. And that's what got us started with this task force. And I'd like to say that, you know, the results have been just remarkable. Unfortunately, we see that there is an uptick in these kinds of cases, even in a small community such as Cohoes. And with that rise, we see that there are resources that we don't have on our own, and the use of the internet and social media has become very prevalent,” said Waldin.
Sarcone reiterated a vow he made last month to look into bringing charges against internet dating sites, social media platforms as well as phone carriers.
"I tell you, what, if I was in private practice right now, I would be thinking about a big, giant class action suit against all of them and representing all the victims, because that's how you get their attention," Sarcone said. "When it's hitting them in their wallet.”
Sarcone emphasized a zero-tolerance policy for child sex abuse and highlighted the importance of public reporting and collaboration with law enforcement. Anyone with information about potential child exploitation is urged to contact authorities.
