LETITIA JAMES INDICTED: NY attorney general hit with alleged bank fraud charges by Trump Justice Department
Attorney General Letitia James
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
State Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime foe of President Donald Trump, was indicted on federal bank fraud charges Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said, as the administration seeks to use government power against those who have pursued investigations into him or publicly resisted his agenda.
Trump, a Republican who campaigned for reelection in part on a vow of retribution after facing a slew of legal woes since his first term in the White House ended in 2021, has repeatedly assailed James on social media and at political rallies as a partisan enemy.
The case is being pursued through Lindsey Halligan, whom Trump recently appointed to lead the US Attorney’s office of the Eastern District of Virginia.
James is one of several Democratic state attorneys general who have sued to block actions by the Trump administration to defund New York or hinder civil rights against transgender individuals and immigrants. In 2022, she brought a civil fraud case against Trump and his family real estate company, eventually achieving a decision that resulted in Trump facing a $452.2 million penalty; a state appeals court threw the penalty out in August, but upheld that the president had been liable for fraud.
Trump denied wrongdoing. He has accused James’ office of bringing the case against him for political reasons.
James’ indictment comes after a grand jury in Virginia on Sept. 25 indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation. Comey has said he is innocent. Trump has regularly assailed Comey’s handling of the FBI investigation that detailed contacts between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.
It also comes weeks after Trump, in a Truth social media post, publicly admonished Attorney General Pam Bondi for not moving fast enough to prosecute James and other foes.
“Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and Leticia???” Trump wrote. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
The FBI opened a criminal investigation in May into mortgage fraud allegations against James.
The probe was opened after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, a Trump appointee, sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department charging that James allegedly “falsified records” to obtain favorable loans on homes she purchased in Virginia and Brooklyn.
James’ lawyer Abbe Lowell said in May that those accusations were “baseless and long-discredited.”
“Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American. We stand strongly behind our successful litigation,” James’ office said in a statement on August 8.
The Justice Department, after receiving referrals from Pulte, has also opened mortgage fraud probes into California Sen. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who led the House of Representatives’ inquiry that led to Trump’s impeachment in 2019, and Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.
Neither Schiff nor Cook has been charged with a crime, and they both deny wrongdoing.
