New York Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia on one account of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.
The indictment accuses James lying on her application for a $109,600 mortgage to buy a property in Norfolk, Va. in 2020 — alleging she promised her financial lenders it would be a secondary property for her personal use — but that she instead rented it out.
In the indictment, the government says James benefited from “ill-gotten gains” of $18,933 from rental proceeds, a lower borrowing rate, and a higher seller credit. Personal residences tend to receive lower loan rates than do rental properties.
There are strong political overtones to the case.
James is a Democrat who pledged to investigate Trump during her run for the office she now holds. In September of 2022, she eventually sue Trump and his company for inflating the value of some of its properties, winning more than $450 million in the civil business fraud case. However, the financial penalty was later thrown out on appeal.
Trump started attacking James during campaign rallies leading up to the presidential election, calling for James and the judge in that case to “be arrested and punished accordingly.” The president has been persistent in his calls since taking office, writing “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED” in a post on TruthSocial last month that was directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The indictment comes shortly after career prosecutor Erik Siebert, who had overseen the investigation for months but had resisted pressure to file a case, determined there was not enough evidence to bring a case against James, and was removed from his position by the White House. He was replaced by Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance lawyer in Florida with no experience as a prosecutor. She secured an indictment last month against former FBI Director James Comey, who has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges.
The James case remained under seal Thursday, making it impossible to assess what evidence prosecutors have, according to a CTV report.
The charges for James have been pushed in part by Ed Martin, the Director of the Weaponization Working Group for the Department of Justice.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for James, has criticized Martin for targeting Democratic lawmakers and other figures to settle scores for Trump.
“We are deeply concerned that this case is driven by President Trump’s desire for revenge,” Lowell said in a statement on Thursday. “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.”
“We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights,” James said on X after the bank fraud and making false statements charges were announced.
James’ allies are alleging retribution by a president whose company she had successfully sued in New York for civil business fraud, according to a Politico article.
James is scheduled for an initial court appearance on October 24.
