A federal grand jury in Virginia on Thursday indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on 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 former FBI director.
Comey was indicted in late September by a grand jury that heard evidence from Lindsey Halligan, the same Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who obtained the indictment Thursday against James.
James previously sued Trump in a civil case in New York that led to him and his company being held liable for business fraud.
The five-page indictment issued Thursday accuses James of making false statements in connection with a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage of about $109,600 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. But instead of using it as her second home, the indictment alleges, she rented it to a family of three.
The indictment alleges that James’ alleged total purported “ill-gotten gains” were only about $19,000 over the life of the loan she received. Most of that money was from savings James allegedly received from a lower interest rate on the mortgage than she would have had to pay if the home was classified as a rental investment property, the indictment says.
“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 Halligan in a statement after she obtained the indictment 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.
James, in a statement, called the charges “baseless” and said, “This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
“He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General.”
Trump’s “own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” James said. “The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.”
“His decision to fire a United States Attorney who refused to bring charges against me – and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president – is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice.”
James was ordered to make her first appearance in the case on Oct. 24 in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia. The case was assigned to Judge Jamar Walker, who was appointed to the bench in 2023 by then-President Joe Biden.
If convicted, James faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million on each count. Any actual sentence would likely be much less severe given federal sentencing guidelines.
Halligan, on Sept. 25 obtained a criminal indictment against Comey, on charges related to his allegedly lying to Congress in 2020.
Halligan 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.
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.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “This is what tyranny looks like.
“President Trump is using the Justice Department as his personal attack dog, targeting Attorney General Tish James for the ‘crime’ of prosecuting him for fraud — and winning,” Schumer said. “One U.S. Attorney already refused this case. So, Trump hand-picked an unqualified hack that would go after another political enemy. This isn’t justice. It’s revenge. And it should horrify every American who believes no one is above the law.”
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 the Norfolk home.
James’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, in a statement Thursday to NBC News, said, “Attorney General James flatly and forcefully denies these charges.”
“We are deeply concerned that this case is driven by President Trump’s desire for revenge,” Lowell said. “When a President can publicly direct charges to be filed against someone – when it was reported that career attorneys concluded none were warranted — it marks a serious attack on the rule of law. We will fight these charges in every process allowed in the law.”
Pulte has made similar accusations about purported mortgage fraud against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Trump cited those claims in August when he tried to fire Cook, who, like James, is the first Black woman to hold her position. A federal district court judge blocked Trump from removing Cook while her lawsuit challenging her termination was pending.
The Supreme Court on Oct. 1 said Cook could remain in her post pending the outcome of oral arguments over the dispute, which are set for January.
Cook, who is being represented in her lawsuit by Lowell, has not been criminally charged.
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.
“I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization,” James said in her statement on Thursday.
“We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence – not politics,” she said. “Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud.”
“I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space,” James said.
“And so today I am not fearful, I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job.”
