Senate GOPers push back on $10M taxpayer-funded Tish James 'slush fund' that could pay her legal bills | 14 May 2025 | Irate state Republicans want to bottle up a sneaky $10 million "slush fund" that could be used to pay Attorney General Letitia James's legal bills as she faces a criminal probe. Not a penny should be spent from the controversial fund that Democrats slipped into New York's 2026 budget, state Senate Republicans urged Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in a letter obtained by The Post. Certain New York officials can tap into the fund to pay for legal expenses, even as part of probes not related to their state employment -- a provision widely seen as giving James a path to pay for her legal defense during U.S. Justice Department probes into her alleged fraudulent real estate dealings.