AG Bondi Files Charges Against New York, Hochul, and Letitia James; Gabbard Sworn In as DNI

In a dramatic February 2025 press conference, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Department of Justice had filed charges against the State of New York, Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder for violating federal immigration law. Standing alongside an angel mom whose family had been affected by illegal immigration, Bondi declared: “New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops — it stops today.” In separate developments the same day, Tulsi Gabbard was officially sworn in as Director of National Intelligence by Bondi, Vice President JD Vance and his family visited the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and Representative Ayanna Pressley made a startling verbal slip about censorship.

DOJ Files Charges Against New York Officials

Bondi opened her announcement by naming each defendant individually, signaling that the Trump DOJ was not merely challenging a policy but holding specific officials personally accountable.

“We’re here today because we have filed charges against the state of New York,” Bondi said. “We have filed charges against Kathy Hochul. We have filed charges against Letitia James and Mark Schroeder, who is with DMV.”

The charges centered on New York’s refusal to comply with federal immigration enforcement. Under New York’s Green Light Law, passed in 2019, the state Department of Motor Vehicles was prohibited from sharing driver’s license data with federal immigration authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The law effectively created a shield that prevented federal agents from using DMV records to locate and deport individuals who were in the country illegally.

Bondi framed the action as a fundamental choice New York had made between protecting its residents and protecting illegal immigrants. “New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens,” she said, delivering the line with the kind of directness that had characterized her tenure as AG from the outset.

She underscored that the DOJ action carried personal weight by gesturing to someone standing behind her. “This is a new DOJ, and we are taking steps to protect Americans, American citizens and angel moms, like the mom standing right behind me, who you’re going to hear from in a moment,” Bondi said. The presence of an angel mom — a parent who had lost a child to a crime committed by an illegal immigrant — added a visceral human dimension to the legal proceeding.

”Strike One, Strike Two — You’re Next”

Bondi escalated her rhetoric by framing the New York action as part of a broader enforcement campaign against non-compliant states.

“President Trump has directed this to stop,” Bondi said. “And if you don’t comply with federal law, we will hold you accountable.”

She then placed New York in sequence with a previous action against Illinois. “We did it to Illinois — strike one. Strike two is New York,” Bondi said. “And if you are a state not complying with federal law, you’re next. Get ready.”

The baseball analogy — strike one, strike two — served as both a warning and an implicit threat of escalation. States that had enacted sanctuary policies or otherwise obstructed federal immigration enforcement were on notice that the DOJ would come for them in turn. The sequential framing suggested that the administration had a list and was working through it methodically.

The warning was directed primarily at Democratic-governed states that had passed legislation limiting cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. California, Colorado, and several other states had enacted similar protections for undocumented immigrants, and Bondi’s “you’re next” statement put their governors and attorneys general on notice.

The naming of specific officials — Hochul, James, and Schroeder — was itself a significant escalation. Previous federal challenges to sanctuary policies had typically been directed at states or municipalities as governmental entities. By naming the governor, attorney general, and a commissioner individually, the Trump DOJ signaled that officials who obstructed federal law could face personal legal consequences, not just institutional ones.

Tulsi Gabbard Sworn In as Director of National Intelligence

In a separate ceremony, Tulsi Gabbard took the oath of office as Director of National Intelligence, administered by Attorney General Bondi.

“I, Tulsi Gabbard, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely,” Gabbard recited.

Gabbard’s confirmation had been one of the most contentious of Trump’s second term, with Democrats accusing the former Hawaii congresswoman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate of being too sympathetic to Russia and lacking the intelligence community experience required for the position. Gabbard, who had left the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed Trump, had positioned herself as a reformer who would challenge what she described as the intelligence community’s institutional bias and overreach.

Her swearing-in by Bondi — rather than by a judge or the vice president — reflected the close working relationship between the two women that the administration was cultivating. Bondi’s DOJ and Gabbard’s intelligence community oversight were expected to work in tandem on issues ranging from counterterrorism to the investigation of alleged surveillance abuses.

VP Vance Visits Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Vice President JD Vance and his family visited the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a trip that combined diplomatic symbolism with personal significance. The cathedral had been severely damaged by a devastating fire on April 15, 2019, and its restoration had become a symbol of French resilience and cultural preservation.

Vance’s visit came during a broader European diplomatic trip and underscored the administration’s emphasis on Western cultural heritage. The images of the vice president and the Second Family walking through the restored cathedral provided a visual contrast to the combative tone of the domestic policy announcements, offering a moment of cultural appreciation amid the political battles playing out in Washington.

Pressley Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

In what critics immediately labeled a Freudian slip, Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) stated that Democrats were “willing to work with anyone who’s serious about doing the work of censoring the American people.”

The word “censoring” appeared to be an unintended substitution for a word like “serving” or “supporting,” but the slip was seized upon by conservative commentators as a revealing admission of Democratic attitudes toward free speech. Pressley’s full statement, in context, appeared to be criticizing Republicans as unserious about governance, but the use of “censoring” — at a time when the Biden administration had faced extensive criticism for pressuring social media platforms to suppress speech — struck many as an accidental articulation of a real policy orientation.

The clip circulated widely on social media, where it was paired with the Trump administration’s recent actions to restore free speech protections and end government-sponsored censorship. The contrast between Pressley’s “censoring” slip and Press Secretary Leavitt’s emphasis on free speech and the new media seat at White House briefings reinforced the narrative that the two parties had fundamentally different orientations toward the First Amendment.

Key Takeaways

• AG Pam Bondi announced DOJ charges against the State of New York, Governor Kathy Hochul, AG Letitia James, and DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder for violating federal immigration law by refusing to share DMV data with ICE.
• Bondi warned other non-compliant states: “We did it to Illinois — strike one. Strike two is New York. And if you are a state not complying with federal law, you’re next. Get ready.”
• Tulsi Gabbard was officially sworn in as Director of National Intelligence by AG Bondi, taking the oath to “support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
• VP JD Vance and the Second Family visited the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during a European diplomatic trip.
• Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) said Democrats were “willing to work with anyone who’s serious about doing the work of censoring the American people,” a verbal slip that critics called an accidental admission.