NY AG Weaponizes Office to Target Conservative Family Policy Council

Jason McGuire, executive director of New York Families Foundation and New York Families Action, will be spending the next eight weekends in the Livingston County Jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges related to campaign finance reporting errors.

The errors were not connected with McGuire’s work at the two pro-life, pro-family organizations and totaled $1,283.76 in expenditures that were missing receipts.

You heard that right: Missing. Receipts.

For that bookkeeping mistake, he’s spending eight weekends in jail.

McGuire and the board of directors of the two pro-life, pro-family organizations allege that New York Attorney General Letitia James exploited her position to harass them in a “politically motivated attack.”

Board Chairman Reverend Emelio Sebastian emphatically decried the NY attorney general’s action:

The Board of Directors of New York Families Foundation (NYFF) is outraged and grieved at the results of the recent legal proceedings involving our executive director, Jason McGuire.

We believe that New York State Attorney General Letitia James and her staff abused the legal system for partisan and ideological reasons by investigating Jason in the first place.

Rev. Sebastian explained that McGuire pled guilty to the two misdemeanors “for the purpose of making a time-consuming, onerous, and expensive legal problem go away,” adding:

“Based on Jason’s long tenure with our organization, his character, and his integrity, we are confident that Jason did not engage in any intentional wrongdoing. … As a result of Letitia James’ lawfare, Jason will serve as a political prisoner.”

Political Retribution

McGuire also defended himself against the attorney general, issuing a statement saying, “Let me be absolutely clear: This is not justice. It is political retribution.”

“Letitia James weaponized her office to target me because I dared to speak against her radical, pro-abortion policies,” he said, calling the investigation “politically motivated.”

McGuire added:

For more than three years, her office harassed my family, my staff, and my ministry – demanding donor lists, monitoring bank accounts, and threatening my wife.

In the end, they manufactured a case over three minor omissions totaling $1,283.76 on a campaign finance report unrelated to New York Families. Rather than drain a quarter-million dollars fighting an overzealous prosecution, I accepted a misdemeanor plea.

McGuire explained that the Attorney General’s “investigation was sparked by an unfounded 2018 complaint from a political rival,” explaining New York Families had produced over 7,000 pages of documents in response to subpoenas. In addition:

• The AG’s office demanded donor lists, sermon recordings, and private information on New York Families’ supporters.
• Attorney General Letitia James falsely claimed that McGuire “lined his own pockets” – a statement his attorney deemed libelous.
• The Office of the Attorney General targeted “other businesses and organizations connected to Jason” and monitored NYFF and NYFA’s bank accounts – as well as his personal account.

“Throughout most of this period,” the board said, “Jason, NYFF and NYFA were kept in the dark as to what (if any) crimes the OAG believed them to have committed.”

After several years of harassment, “on the advice of legal counsel, and in consultation with the Board,” McGuire pled guilty “to two misdemeanors arising out of the filing of incorrect campaign finance disclosure documents relating to Jason’s political activities.”

Continuing to fight the charges could have cost McGuire around $250,000.

The attacks on McGuire did not end with his guilty plea. In her announcement of his conviction, Attorney General James mischaracterized the case, stating he had “abused his position in the New York Conservative Party to line his own pockets with party funds and cover up his theft.”

Attorney General Letitia James Investigated for Fraud

While engaging in the attack on McGuire, Attorney General James is herself under fire for mortgage fraud involving properties in Norfolk, Virginia and Brooklyn, New York, National Mortgage Professional reported.

Following a referral from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the U.S. Department of Justice began a criminal investigation of allegations against her. According to the news outlet:

• James is accused of falsely claiming a Norfolk, Virginia home as her primary residence in 2023 to secure better mortgage rates, despite her official residence being in New York.

• FHFA alleged that James misrepresented a five-unit Brooklyn brownstone as a four-unit property to qualify for a loan intended for smaller multifamily homes, and claimed this happened multiple times dating back to the early 2000s.

• An additional claim involves a 1983 mortgage document where James and her father allegedly signed as husband and wife, potentially to meet lending requirements. The two also listed themselves as married in documentation 17 years later in May 2000, FHFA alleged. 

According to Newsweek, James replied to the allegations saying, “Let me just say to all New Yorkers and all Americans: the allegations are baseless. The allegations are nothing more than a revenge tour.”

But George Washington University School of Business Associate Professor Kyle Welch told Newsweek the allegations could lead to jail time and disbarment. He called the charges ironic, since James has stated, “Nobody is above the law.”

Board Support for McGuire

The board of directors of New York Families Foundation and New York Families Action continue in their support of McGuire, saying, “The Board does not believe that Jason engaged in any intentional wrongdoing whatsoever.”

Despite the persecution of McGuire, New York Families Board asked for prayer for Attorney General Letitia James and her staff, citing 1 Timothy 2:2 which calls Christians to pray for leaders and those in authority, adding we should do so “even when those leaders do wrong.”

They also asked for prayer for Jason McGuire as he endures his sentence and for the ongoing work of NYFF and NYFA.

New York Families Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is an “educational and engagement organization” that promotes family, faith and life in the Empire state. The Focus on the Family affiliated organization equips and empowers Christians to engage with important culture and policy issues according to their Christian values.

New York Families Action is a 501(c)(4) that engages in political advocacy to promote religious liberty, protect human life, and support marriages, parenting and families.

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