New York Republicans demand Garland investigate Empire State AG Letitia James over Nikki Haley group tax leak

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FIRST ON FOX: Six New York Republicans demanded that Attorney General Merrick Garland open an investigation into the Empire State’s own state Attorney General Letitia James after Nikki Haley's political nonprofit had its tax filings leaked to the media. 

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., led the Tuesday letter with five of her colleagues to Garland calling on the attorney general to launch an investigation into the leak of a conservative 501(c)4 Stand For America’s 2019 tax filings that included a donor list. The leaked list bore a stamp from James' office. 

The filings were leaked by Politico in late August after being provided the documents by the political watchdog organization Documented, who did not say where they got the documents from. The published documents appear to have the stamp of the New York Attorney General’s charity office.

NIKKI HALEY FIGHTING BACK AFTER NONPROFIT’S TAX FILINGS LEAKED TO POLITICO: ‘THIS IS A FEDERAL TAX CRIME’

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., led the letter to AG Merrick Garland regarding the release of Stand For America's tax documents containing donor information, warning it "sets a dangerous precedent of political weaponization by a state Attorney General." (Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images)

"The release of Stand For America’s donor records is extremely concerning," Malliotakis told Fox News Digital in a statement. "Not only does it jeopardize protections non-profits are afforded under federal law, but it also sets a dangerous precedent of political weaponization by a state Attorney General."

"This leak warrants an immediate investigation by the Department of Justice," the New York Republican added.

In the letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, Malliotakis and her fellow lawmakers shared their "distinct concern" of the "potential illegal delivery, receipt, and publication of" private donor information, citing that 501(c)4 donors’ information is legally confidential.

The Republicans accused James of leaking the unredacted tax document containing the data and called on Garland and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to "investigate the malicious delivery" of the documents with Stand For America’s donor information.

Six Empire State Republicans accused New York State Attorney General Letitia James of breaking the law by leaking Stand For America's unredacted 2019 tax filing to the watchdog group Documented. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

They also warned the release of the donor records "creates a dangerous precedent for the political weaponization" of the New York attorney general’s office.

Malliotakis and her colleagues pointed to the document published in the August report by Politico that bore the stamp of the New York Attorney General office’s charity office.

"As reported by Politico’s Alex Isenstadt on August 26, 2022, a political watchdog organization called Documented ‘obtained an unredacted copy of Stand For America’s 2019 filings, which it then shared with Politico,’" the letter reads. "‘The group did not share the original source of the filing, but it bears a stamp from the charity office of the New York State Attorney General.’"

"It is imperative that the DOJ evaluate and ascertain whether protections extended to organizations such as SFA were violated with political motivation to mitigate potential erosions of the rights to free speech afforded under the First Amendment," the lawmakers continued.

The Republicans said that, under the law, "willful disclosure" of a 501(c)4’s Form 990 Schedule B to unauthorized people "is considered a felonious offense punishable by fine, imprisonment," or both.

The leaked document appears to bear a stamp from the New York Attorney General's charity office. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

"As the NYAGO would normally be tasked with the investigation of such a matter and the office’s potential involvement in this troubling situation, the DOJ must conduct an immediate investigation to avoid any impartiality and ensure equal justice is afforded to SFA and any other nonprofit organization that may be impacted by similar matters in the future," the lawmakers wrote.

Joining Malliotakis on the letter are New York Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik, John Katko, Andrew Garbarino, Claudia Tenney, and Chris Jacobs.

Garland has faced scrutiny from critics over his apparent choices in which cases to prosecute and which ones to not.

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Additionally, President Biden’s attorney general has been slammed by Republicans and critics over his handling of social issues, such as turning the FBI on parents concerned about critical race theory and being asked by medical organizations to "investigate and prosecute" critics of child gender transition surgeries.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.