Letitia James spent years weaponizing New York law to destroy Donald Trump's business over a mortgage dispute.
Now she has a new target.
Her new target is a group of elderly Catholic nuns – and she's been holding their $19 million hostage for two years.
How New York Attorney General Letitia James Seized Catholic Nuns' $19 Million
The Sisters ran the Jeanne d'Arc Residence in Manhattan for 123 years. Founded to house young women new to the city, the residence gave working women a safe place to live at a price they could afford – staffed entirely by the nuns themselves until the pandemic and dwindling numbers finally forced closure in 2021.
Unable to afford critical repairs, the order sold the property in 2024 to billionaire John Catsimatidis for $22.5 million.
Under New York law, a registered charity can't sell a major asset without approval from the attorney general. James reviewed the deal and signed off. She approved the sale.
Then she seized $19.3 million of the proceeds and hasn't released a dollar of it in over two years.
Her stated reason: the sisters never submitted a detailed breakdown of how they'd spend the money – even though their attorney Christine Sama had already written state officials in January explaining the funds would be used "to carry out the exact same activities as Jeanne d'Arc."
The sisters' plan was straightforward. They wanted to care for their own elderly members at Holy Family Home in Kentucky, fund an emergency shelter, and support health clinics and schools in rural Madagascar.
State officials told Sama the plan wasn't "sufficiently similar" to operating the Manhattan building they had just sold.
Charity Law Expert Says James Has No Legal Leg to Stand On
Robert E. Atkinson Jr. – a Florida State University law professor who specializes in charitable law and cy pres doctrine – reviewed the sisters' proposal and told The Free Press it was "suspiciously solid."
The cy pres doctrine – which governs how charities redirect assets when their original mission becomes impossible – is designed for exactly this situation.
Caring for elderly nuns at a retirement home, running emergency shelters, and operating overseas health clinics all fit the sisters' original charitable mission far better than whatever standard James has invented to block them.
A scholar who studies this field for a living called it hard to understand why the situation would even be seen as a close call. James has no good answer.
James Has a History of Targeting Catholics in New York
This isn't the first time James has put Catholic nuns in her crosshairs.
In July 2026, four orders of Catholic nuns filed a federal lawsuit against James over New York's new assisted-suicide law. The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. James case – filed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty – argues that the state's Medical Aid in Dying Act forces Catholic healthcare providers to counsel dying patients about the "benefits" of ending their own lives, under threat of fines, license revocation, and criminal penalties.
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have spent over 125 years caring for impoverished cancer patients in their final days. The Little Sisters of the Poor have welcomed elderly poor people into their homes for nearly 200 years.
New York's answer was to make their ministry illegal unless they participate in killing.
A federal court granted a temporary restraining order in August, shielding the sisters while the case proceeds. The fight isn't over.
Meanwhile, consider who is sitting in judgment of these nuns. James was indicted in October 2025 on federal bank fraud charges – accused of misrepresenting a Virginia property to her mortgage lender to secure better loan terms.
A federal judge dismissed the case in November, and two subsequent grand juries declined to re-indict her.
The irony still stands. The woman who built her career accusing Donald Trump of deceiving banks faced her own federal fraud indictment – and she still walks into the office every morning and tells a group of aging sisters they haven't explained themselves well enough.
James Approved the Sale Then Kept the Money
James signed off on the sale. A charity law expert called the sisters' spending plan an easy case. None of that moved her.
The sisters devoted 123 years to serving vulnerable women in New York City – and when they finally needed help themselves, the state didn't just walk away. It took their money and dared them to fight for it.
The Becket Fund is already in federal court on behalf of Catholic nuns in New York.
James spent years telling New York she was the one holding the powerful accountable. Turns out the powerful needed someone to hold her accountable too – and nobody came.
Sources:
- Madeleine Long, "New York Is Holding $19 Million That Belongs to These Nuns," The Free Press, September 17, 2026.
- Ed Morrissey, "Letitia James Seized Aging Nuns' $19 Million. Why Won't She Release It?" HotAir, September 18, 2026.
- Rachel del Guidice, "Catholic Nuns Sue New York Over Assisted Suicide Law Forces Them to Violate Their Faith," Fox News, July 20, 2026.
- "Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. James," Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, July 2026.
- "New York Attorney General Letitia James Enters Plea in Federal Mortgage Fraud Case," Fox News, October 24, 2025.
