Logo

A senior lawyer at the New York Attorney General’s Office claims he was fired after trying to expose supposed misconduct by a chief prosecutor — who he alleges has hidden potential conflicts of interest and controversial professional relationships, according to a new report.

John Oleske claims he spent two years flagging concerns to his bosses about chief prosecutor José Maldonado — but that his employer dismissed the allegations before firing him this past October, the Daily Beast reported.

Two anonymous people told the Daily Beast the senior lawyer’s concerns were simply a “personal vendetta,” while a third called the 74-page report he wrote on Maldonado a “manifesto.”

As a result, Oleske, who previously led trial teams that won some of the AG’s biggest cases, has turned into an unlikely whistleblower aiming at Maldonado, who currently serves as the chief of the office’s powerful criminal division, according to the Daily Beast.


  John Oleske, a former senior lawyer at the New York Attorney General’s Office, claimed he was fired after attempting to expose misconduct by chief prosecutor José Maldonado. LinkedIn/John Oleske John Oleske, a former senior lawyer at the New York Attorney General’s Office, claimed he was fired after attempting to expose misconduct by chief prosecutor José Maldonado. LinkedIn/John Oleske

Oleske did not report to Maldonado, but the Daily Beast reported he became frustrated with how Maldonado ran his division and discovered what his report dubbed “apparently serious misconduct” due to “falsifying his resume and hiding conflicts of interest with OAG’s enforcement targets.”

A spokesperson for AG Letitia James’ office said it did not ignore Oleske’s report and “takes every complaint seriously and has always taken appropriate action when warranted.”

In his report, Oleske highlighted allegations against Maldonado that hadn’t yet been publicized, including that in 2020, he was accused of racism in an ongoing federal discrimination lawsuit in Manhattan, according to the Daily Beast.

John Coombs, past president of the city’s Black Firefighters Association, claimed that when Maldonado served as associate commissioner of compliance at the New York Fire Department, he took actions that “blocked the advancement of African Americans,” according to a court document cited by the Daily Beast.

Neither Coombs nor Maldonado appear to be party to the lawsuit.

The AG’s Office dismissed the allegation, telling the Daily Beast it was an unverified and unspecific claim meant to support the certification of a class-action lawsuit that a judge refused to give class-action status.

Another complaint of Oleske’s was that Maldonado seemed to hide his prior involvement with a nonprofit called the Brooklyn Golf Alliance, which Oleske felt could become an issue if Maldonado ever had to investigate the organization, the article said.


  A spokesperson for AG Letitia James’ office said Oleske’s complaint was not ignored. AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File A spokesperson for AG Letitia James’ office said Oleske’s complaint was not ignored. AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File

Maldonado quit the group in 2022 when he was caught failing to disclose his involvement, the AG’s Office said.

His involvement with the group also concerned Oleske because the AG probes abusive property owners and the golf nonprofit’s board includes Jeffrey Dunston, head of Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation, who was dubbed the “second-worst” private landlord in New York.

In response to that claim, the AG’s Office said it regularly targets bad landlords — but an employee’s association with someone doesn’t indicate wrongdoing.

The chief prosecutor’s tangential relation to Donald Trump also alarmed Oleske, who noted in his report that he was worried Maldonado could somehow influence the office’s early inquiry into the former president, the report said.

The AG’s office hasn’t shied away from prosecuting Trump and is currently duking it out in court at an ongoing $250 million civil fraud trial against the former president.

Oleske voiced concerns over Maldonado’s alleged covert involvement in lobbying for private garbage companies, though the AG’s Office insisted he did this work as an outside adviser.

The former senior lawyer says that after he flagged his concerns internally, he was told he was “observed to have engaged in a pattern of erratic, agitated, irrational, and disruptive behavior” and was forced to take an extended leave.

After burning through all his paid time off, Oleske returned to the office, where everyone acted as if nothing happened.

“My first thought was: I must have been right about José being crooked. They’re trying to get rid of me under this threat that they’ll say I’m crazy. This is Soviet-style, sick kind of s—t,” he told the Daily Beast.

Half an hour before he was fired, Oleske emailed over a dozen AG colleagues his report and accused the office of “trying to intimidate and extort me into silence rather than addressing and resolving the problem inherent in Mr. Maldonado’s false statements about his work history and business relationships.”

A week later, when he was asked to mail back his work ID and laptop, he told them he had given both to the feds, the Daily Beast reported.


  James stood behind Maldonado and called him an “incredible public servant.” Derek Gee/The Buffalo News via AP James stood behind Maldonado and called him an “incredible public servant.” Derek Gee/The Buffalo News via AP

“I have already surrendered all OAG property in my possession to Eric Blachman, Special Agent in Charge of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Contact him directly with any further inquiries,” he shot back. “DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN.”

On Sunday, James made it clear it stood behind its top prosecutor, telling the outlet, “Jose Maldonado is an incredible public servant who has dedicated his career to protecting New Yorkers and fighting for justice.”

“As Chief Deputy Attorney General of the Criminal Division for the past five years, Jose has overseen some of our most impactful work protecting New Yorkers, including our nursing home investigations,” James said. “He has always conducted himself with the utmost integrity and care, and I’m confident he will continue this great work for years to come.”

A spokesperson with the US Attorney’s Office couldn’t confirm the existence of any investigation into the claims, pursuant to their policy.

Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy