New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two charges stemming from mortgage fraud allegations, making her the second prominent adversary of President Trump to face criminal charges after he vowed to seek retribution against his perceived enemies.
She faces counts of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution, according to an indictment filed Thursday in the Eastern District of Virginia.
An initial court appearance in Norfolk, Va., is set for Oct. 24 before a magistrate judge.
Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney for the district, was the only prosecutor on the docket as of Thursday.
“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,” Halligan said in a statement. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”
In a statement, James called the charges a “continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” claiming Trump is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding because she “did her job” as New York’s top prosecutor.
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” James said.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison. However, if convicted, James would be a first-time offender and likely receive a lesser sentence.
U.S. District Judge Jamar Walker, an appointee of former President Biden, was randomly assigned to the case.
Prosecutors claim that James purchased a home in Norfolk in 2020 under an agreement called a “second home rider,” which required her to occupy and use the property as her secondary residence and allowed her to obtain favorable loan terms.
However, they allege that she instead rented the property to a family of three, when the favorable terms would not have been available for an investment property. It resulted in nearly $19,000 in ill-gotten gains over the life of the loan, the indictment says.
She continued “further misrepresenting” the property’s intended use in an application for homeowners’ insurance and tax forms, prosecutors claim.
James landed in Trump’s crossfire after taking on his business empire for civil fraud.
She won a nearly $500 million judgment against him, after a New York judge found Trump and other defendants inflated his net worth for tax and insurance benefits, putting the president’s billionaire status and company at risk.
An appeals court wiped the penalty out in August but otherwise kept the case and additional penalties intact. Both Trump and James’s office appealed.
She said Thursday that she stands “strongly” behind the case, adding that her investigation was based on “the facts and evidence – not politics.”
The mortgage fraud allegations against James originated with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), whose director, Bill Pulte, filed a criminal referral against her in April.
He alleged that she claimed a Virginia home as her primary residence while holding public office in New York and residing there.
“At the time of the 2023 Norfolk, VA property purchase and mortgage, Ms. James was the siting Attorney General of New York and is required by law to have her primary residence in the state of New York — even though her mortgage applications list her intent to have the Norfolk, VA property as her primary home,” the criminal referral said.
“It appears Ms. James’ property and mortgage-related misrepresentations may have continued to her recent 2023 Norfolk, VA property purchase in order to secure a lower interest rate and more favorable loan terms,” it continued.
Pulte filed similar criminal referrals against Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Cook.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed a “special attorney” to probe mortgage fraud allegations against them. DOJ official Ed Martin was tapped for the role, and earlier this year posed for a photo outside James’s Brooklyn home.
Only James has faced charges so far, which she said Thursday she plans to fight “aggressively.” She is represented by Abbe Lowell, a prominent Washington attorney who has represented others who have spoken out against the Trump administration.
In Cook’s case, Trump used the referral as cause for her removal from the board, which she has challenged up to the Supreme Court. Arguments over the matter are scheduled for January.
The charge comes just two weeks after former FBI Director James Comey, another longtime Trump foe, was indicted on two felony counts stemming from congressional testimony he gave in 2020.
Comey made his first court appearance Wednesday in Alexandria, Va., where he entered a not guilty plea through his attorney, and a trial was set for Jan. 5. However, Comey’s attorney signaled that several defense motions will seek to kill the prosecution before then.
It also follows news reports that a top prosecutor investigating James saw no probable cause to believe she engaged in mortgage fraud.
Updated at 6:17 p.m.