New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Virginia on criminal charges of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution after a prosecutor hand-picked by President Donald Trump presented evidence to that panel.
James is a long-time antagonist of Trump, who recently publicly called for criminal charges to be filed against her and former FBI Director James Comey.
The attorney general previously sued Trump in a civil case in New York that led to him and his company being held liable for business fraud.
The indictment issued Thursday accuses James of making false statements in connection with a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae that she obtained to buy a three-bedroom home in Norfolk, Virginia, in August 2020.
James, whose primary residence at the time was in Brooklyn, New York, is accused of lying on a rider to that mortgage, which required her to use the Norfolk home as a secondary residence and not rent the property, according to the indictment.
“No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” said Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement after she obtained the indictment of James in Alexandria federal court.
“The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served,” Halligan said.
Halligan on Sept. 25 obtained a criminal indictment against another Trump foe, former FBI Director James Comey, on charges related to his allegedly lying to Congress in 2020.
Halligan also had personally presented the evidence in Comey’s case, reportedly after other prosecutors balked at the idea. It is highly unusual for a U.S. Attorney to present a case to a grand jury.
Comey pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in Alexandria on Wednesday and was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 5.
CNBC has requested comment on the new indictment from James’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, as well as from the offices of Halligan and James.
Halligan’s predecessor as acting U.S. Attorney, Erik Siebert, resigned on Sept. 19, shortly after Trump said he wanted him gone.
Siebert told Justice Department officials before he quit that “investigators found insufficient evidence to bring charges against Ms. James and had also raised concerns about a potential case against Mr. Comey,” The New York Times reported on the day he resigned.
Trump promptly tapped Halligan to replace Siebert.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul blasted the indictment of her fellow Democrat James.
“New Yorkers know @NewYorkStateAG James for her integrity, her independence, and her relentless fight for justice,” Hochul wrote in a post on X.
“What we’re seeing today is nothing less than the weaponization of the Justice Department to punish those who hold the powerful accountable,” the governor wrote.
James’ indictment comes three days after MSNBC reported that a top prosecutor in Halligan’s office, Elizabeth Yusi, was resisting pressure to ask a grand jury to charge James.
“Yusi … has confided to co-workers that she sees no probable cause to believe James engaged in mortgage fraud, the two sources told MSNBC,” that report on Monday said.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte in April made a criminal referral against James with the U.S. Justice Department, saying she had in multiple instances falsified bank documents and property records in connection with a home in Virginia and a New York property.
Lowell has denied the suggestion that James said the Virginia home was her primary residence to obtain a more favorable loan rate.
In a letter in April to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Lowell called Pulte’s allegations “baseless.”
In early September, James asked New York state’s highest court to overturn an appeals court’s decision tossing out the $500 million penalty imposed on Trump and his company in the business fraud case.
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