New York Attorney General Letitia James Charged in Mortgage Fraud Investigation
New York Attorney General Letitia James was charged Thursday as part of a mortgage fraud investigation aggressively pushed by the Trump administration, becoming the latest foe of the president to be prosecuted by his Justice Department.
James, who infuriated President Donald Trump by suing him and his company for fraud in a case that played out as he was running for office, was indicted on charges of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution following a presentation to a grand jury in Virginia by a prosecutor who was hastily appointed last month amid Trump administration pressure to deliver criminal cases against his adversaries.
The indictment, two weeks after a separate criminal case charging former FBI Director James Comey with lying to Congress, is the latest indication of the Trump administration’s norm-busting determination to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to pursue the president’s political foes and public figures who once investigated him.
Related
Breaking News
The Investigation and Indictment
Both the Comey and James cases followed strikingly unconventional paths toward indictment, with the Trump administration last month pushing out Erik Siebert, the veteran prosecutor who had overseen both investigations for months and had resisted pressure to file charges and replacing him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who was once Trump’s personal lawyer but who had never previously worked as a federal prosecutor.
FILE – Lindsey Halligan, outside of the White House, Aug. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Response to the Indictment
In a lengthy statement, James decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
Related
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost. The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties,” she added.
She called the decision to fire Siebert and replace him with a prosecutor who is “blindly loyal” to the president as “antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country,” and she said she stood by her investigation of Trump and his company as having been “based on the facts and evidence — not politics.”
Abbe Lowell, James’ lawyer and a prominent attorney representing multiple Trump targets, said James “flatly and forcefully denies these charges.” James is scheduled to make an initial appearance in the federal court in Norfolk, Va., on Oct. 24.
The Allegations
The indictment pertains to James’ purchase of a house in Norfolk, Va., in 2020.
During the sale, she signed a standard document called a “second home rider” in which she agreed to various rules, including a requirement that she keep the property primarily for her “personal use and enjoyment for at least one year,” unless the lender agreed otherwise in writing.
Rather than using the home as a second residence, the indictment alleges, James rented it out to a family of three. According to the indictment, the misrepresentation allowed James to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties.
Reaction from the Justice Department
In a post on X shortly after the indictment was handed up, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote, “One tier of justice for all Americans.”
Related
