An assistant to New York Attorney General Letitia James may face a misdemeanor criminal charge for vandalism.
Assistant Attorney General Stacey Hamilton may be facing a charge of third-degree criminal tampering after allegedly damaging a neighbor's car by throwing an unknown liquid on it in November, according to The Times Union.
Hamilton's attorney reportedly accused the office of Albany County District Attorney David Soares of "unfair treatment," although an unassociated special prosecutor was assigned to the case.
The Context
The office of James has been thrown into the national spotlight in recent years for investigating the alleged wrongdoings of former President Donald Trump, culminating in a recently successful business fraud lawsuit against the ex-president that ended in a judgment of over $464 million.
However, the purported charge against Hamilton is entirely unrelated to Trump, instead involving an alleged dispute or incident between the assistant attorney general and her neighbor.
Hamilton, who has worked for multiple state government agencies in the Empire State, denied to The Times Union that she had been charged with any crime, purportedly telling the paper's reporter over the phone that they "really need to actually do some investigating."
What We Know
Court documents cited by The Times Union allege that Hamilton doused a neighbor's car with "unknown liquids" on November 16. The neighbor later filed a vandalism complaint with police, saying that the liquid had damaged the paint on his vehicle.
Hamilton's lawyer Kevin Gagan told the paper that the girlfriend of the car's owner had assaulted the assistant attorney general on the same night of the alleged vandalism incident. The girlfriend is purportedly facing a misdemeanor charge of assault.
Gagan claimed that the vandalism complaint was fabricated to "get [Hamilton] arrested and to get into the papers to embarrass her so that she would drop the criminal case against this guy's girlfriend—that's the whole case."
He also claimed that the office of Soares was "pulling the strings behind this" due to "maybe some personal animosity between" a former coworker of Hamilton who works in the office.
The office is not involved in the purported prosecution of Hamilton and told the paper that there was "absolutely no truth to claims of behind-the-scenes manipulation by any member of our office."
Views
After purportedly being asked about a court document citing the tampering charge, Hamilton told The Times Union over the phone on Thursday, "You clearly require some investigation and some update in your knowledge" because the document did not mean she was "charged with something."
"It's a piece of paper. Do you understand what words mean?" Hamilton said. "I understand what's written on a piece of paper... If you do anything else with false information further than asserting it to me on the phone, you better be real careful."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the office of James via email on Friday.
What's Next
Hamilton had reportedly been set to appear in court over the alleged vandalism on Tuesday, before City Court Judge John Reilly rescheduled the date for April 17. If the assistant attorney general is charged and convicted of third-degree criminal tampering, she could face up to 90 days in jail.
Update/Correction 03/29/24 3:50 p.m. ET: This article and headline was updated with additional information and to reflect that she denies her charges.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
