Letitia James' powerful spotlights

Talk about the risks and opportunities of the national spotlight. State Attorney General Letitia James finds herself in a unique position at the front of criminal probes into the dealings of a recent president and a current governor.

And talk about trying to tackle two big players at the same time. These simultaneous, high-profile investigations bear on very different sets of facts, theories and situations involving Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo.

James revealed this week she’s combining forces with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in its ongoing dig into the finances of the Trump Organization, which have spawned public suspicion of dubious accounting for many years.

"We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the company is no longer purely civil in nature," said Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for James. "We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA."

The attorney general's exploration into Cuomo differs sharply in substance from the Trump probe. Most recently, James began looking at whether the governor misused state resources to produce his $5 million memoir, "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic."

That’s on top of the more sensational, recently publicized claims of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior by the three-term governor.

Of the Trump and Cuomo cases, James’ tangle with a governor from her own party seems more politically fraught.

As things stand right now, both officials could end up on the same reelection ticket next year. Cuomo, who for a long time was more accustomed to pointing the finger than having it pointed at him, has grown more defensive in his messaging than he was in March, when he said, "Let the attorney general do her job."

James assigned Joon Kim, a former U.S. attorney and one-time aide to his predecessor, Preet Bharara, and employment-discrimination lawyer Anne L. Clark, to carry out the inquiry. They have reputations for aggressiveness.

Speculation abounds. Will James accept their recommendations, whatever they are, when they arrive? Whether supporters of the #MeToo movement find the ultimate results satisfactory doesn't matter legally — but eventually, it could have political consequences.

In contrast, taking on Trump has no downside in New York government. What we already know of the former Manhattan resident makes the pursuit of this probe look very legitimate, at least to the New York public.

The attorney general's office succeeded in its earlier findings of self-serving dealings within the Trump family's charity. Convicted former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified that his ex-boss inflated his wealth for loans but minimized it for taxes. Trump fought and failed in court to guard disclosure of his taxes.

For a hard-core prosecutor, James' current circumstances would seem like a double challenge of a lifetime. For her status as "people’s lawyer," it poses a test of competence and craftsmanship. For James as an ambitious elected official, it sounds like quite the proving ground.

Wins and losses, both legal and political, will start to be tallied in the months ahead. Nobody should know this better than the 62-year-old James, who's politically versed from her years of ambitious involvement in Democratic electoral politics.

Dan Janison is a member of Newsday's editorial board.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.