'PATHETIC': GOP challenger Saritha Komatireddy torches Tish James in NY attorney general debate over lax bail laws, Medicaid fraud

New York Attorney General Letitia James was put on the defensive by her GOP challenger, Saritha Komatireddy, during the New York attorney general debate on Thursday evening. Komatireddy hammered the incumbent Democrat over New York’s lax bail laws and massive amounts of Medicaid fraud in New York.

Komatireddy labeled James a “political hack” for her prosecution against President Trump, and James repeatedly said that the GOP challenger was just a "Trump puppet."

“The laws are broken and Letitia James broke them. She was the largest champion for having this catch-and-release system,” Komatireddy said during the debate and then blamed James for endorsing New York’s lax bail laws, which allow criminals to be let back onto the street oftentimes. 

Komatireddy said there’s an easy fix to the problem, citing that an NYPD officer had been stabbed 10 times in the chest by illegal immigrants with a criminal record. She argued that judges should have discretion to consider the “dangerousness” of a defendant before they are given bail options.

“It doesn’t make sense. This is a way forward without repealing the entire bail law. It’s just about having a common sense solution. It has bipartisan support,” she said.

Jame was asked to defend New York’s bail laws, but ignored the question and tied Komatireddy to Trump.

“My opponent unfortunately is supported by the president of these United States, which has cut funding to New York State mental health crisis [services]. Has my opponent said anything? No,” James said. “All she wants to do is prosecute individuals and institutionalize [them]. No compassion. No understanding of the issues."

“Just to be clear, she won’t change the bail laws,” Komatireddy interjected.

Komatireddy also went on the offensive about the "Cornell 7" case by saying that James showed bias and defended Jane Doe prior to being named as a special prosecutor in the case.

"She’s certainly never prosecuted a sexual assault case and she’s already screwed this one up,” Komatireddy said.

James argued in response, “Those comments demonstrate empathy and what we need now more than ever in our body politics is empathy. Politics stops at the door in my office."

Komatireddy also ripped into James over the amount of fraud taking place in New York, accusing her Medicaid fraud control unit of only collecting $19 million annually in penalties and securing just eight convictions against bad actors. This is compared to the $250 million in penalties and 100 prosecutions it once produced.

James countered that her office has shifted its focus to bigger targets, such as organized fraud and not individual fraudsters. Komatireddy also mocked James for boasting that 10,000 illegal guns had been taken off New York’s streets during her eight years as AG.

“10,000 guns is pathetic. New Jersey seized 16,000 guns in one year,” Komatireddy said. The candidates laid out sharply opposing approaches to subway crime and to the mentally ill and homeless people who frequently shelter in the transit system.

“My opponent believes that we can go down to the subways of MTA and remove individuals who are struggling with mental illness. She wants to turn back the clock of progress and institutionalize people who are suffering from mental illness,” James said, accusing Komatireddy of misunderstanding Kendra’s Law, which lets judges mandate outpatient mental health care.

“What we need is to provide resources to outpatient services and psychiatric beds,” James said, adding that she has directed part of the $3 billion her office helped win in an opioid distributor settlement toward adding psychiatric beds.

Komatireddy pledged to create an “Office of Civil Commitment” so as “to make sure that people who are a danger to themselves and others, like those pushing New Yorkers onto the train tracks, are brought inside.”

“We don’t have a lack of authority. We don’t have a lack of resources. We lack an attorney general who is willing to enforce the law. I will.”

Komatireddy has billed herself as the candidate who will stop crime in New York, citing subway crime and other high criminality. She has framed her campaign as one that will bring down costs for law-abiding citizens in New York and has made a campaign promise to "just fight crime."