Letitia

NORFOLK, Va. — New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James is set to make her first court appearance in a mortgage fraud case on Friday, the third adversary of President Trump to face a judge on federal charges in recent weeks.

James was indicted earlier this month on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a 2020 home purchase in Norfolk, Va. The charges came shortly after the official who had been overseeing the investigation was pushed out by the Trump administration and the Republican president publicly called on the Justice Department to take action against James and other political foes.

James, a Democrat who has sued Trump and his administration dozens of times, has denied wrongdoing and decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”

The indictment stems from James’ purchase of a modest house in Norfolk, where she has family. During the sale, she signed a standard document called a “second home rider” in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her “personal use and enjoyment for at least one year,” unless the lender agreed otherwise.

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.

James drew Trump’s ire when she won a staggering judgment against the president and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. An appeals court overturned the fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.

James’ indictment followed the resignation of Erik Siebert as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after he resisted Trump administration pressure to bring charges. Siebert was replaced with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and former Trump lawyer who had never previously served as a federal prosecutor and presented James’ case to the grand jury herself.

On Thursday, lawyers for James asked for an order prohibiting prosecutors from disclosing to the news media information about the investigation, or materials from the case, outside of court.

The motion followed the revelation from earlier this week that Halligan contacted via an encrypted text messaging platform a reporter from Lawfare, a media organization that covers legal and national security issues, to discuss the James prosecution and complain about coverage of it. The reporter published the exchange that she and Halligan had.

“The exchange was a stunning disclosure of internal government information,” lawyers for James wrote.

They added: “It has been reported that Ms. Halligan has no prosecutorial experience whatsoever. But all federal prosecutors are required to know and follow the rules governing their conduct from their first day on the job, and so any lack of experience cannot excuse their violation.”

The motion also asks that the government be required to preserve all communications with representatives of the media as well as to prevent the deletion of any records or communications related to the investigation and the prosecution of the case.

Separately on Thursday, defense lawyers said they intended to challenge Halligan’s appointment, a step also taken this week by attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey in a different case filed by Halligan. Comey has been charged with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute him, and he has pleaded not guilty.

A third Trump adversary, former national security adviser John Bolton, pleaded not guilty last week to charges against him of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home.

The Justice Department has also been investigating mortgage fraud allegations against Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, whom Trump has called to be prosecuted over allegations related to a property in Maryland. In a separate mortgage investigation, authorities have been probing allegations against Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, who is challenging a Trump administration effort to remove her from her job. Schiff and Cook have denied wrongdoing.

Finely and Richer write for the Associated Press. Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Oct. 24 (UPI) — New York Attorney General Letitia James will be arraigned Friday for her charges of lying on a mortgage application, a prosecution pushed by President Donald Trump.

James’ arraignment will be in Norfolk, Va., in the first court appearance since her indictment on Oct. 9. A grand jury in the U.S.District Court of Eastern Virginia indicted James on the criminal charges after the Justice Department alleged she falsely claimed a Norfolk, Va., property that she bought in 2020 would be her primary residence to get better mortgage terms.

James is expected to plead not guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.

The indictment came a few weeks after Trump posted on Truth Social that Attorney General Pam Bondi should prosecute James, former FBI director James Comey and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Bondi also recently indicted former national security advisor John Bolton.

James is accused of lying about the purpose of a house purchase in Norfolk in 2020. She said on the mortgage application that it would be her primary home, but instead made it a rental. She allegedly rented it to a family of three. But her great-niece has lived in the home since 2020 and testified to a grand jury that she has never paid rent. James has only reported $1,350 in rent on her taxes.

Career federal prosecutors decided against prosecuting James, but Trump forced out Erik Siebert, the U.S. attorney overseeing the office, and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide. Halligan brought the case against James and got the indictment.

Trump dislikes James because she filed a civil fraud lawsuit in 2022, accusing Trump of giving false property valuations and estimates of Trump’s net worth in order to get beneficial loan rates and insurance deals he wouldn’t otherwise have gotten. Trump lost the case and was ordered to pay $364 million. A judge later overturned the fine for being excessive.

Halligan made headlines on Tuesday for her messages to a reporter who wrote an article about the case in the New York Times. Halligan allegedly harassed reporter Anna Bower on Signal for 33 hours.

James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, asked the court to intervene and warn Halligan about making extra-judicial comments about the case.

“These extrajudicial statements and prejudicial disclosures by any prosecutor, let alone one purporting to be the U.S. attorney, run afoul of and violate the federal rules of criminal procedure, the code of federal regulations, this court’s local rules, various rules of ethical and professional responsibility and [Department of Justice’s] justice manual,” Lowell wrote in a filing, The Times reported. He wanted the judge to warn Halligan “to prevent any further disclosures by government attorneys and agents of investigative and case materials, and statements to the media and public.”

WASHINGTON — A grand jury has indicted New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James on a fraud charge in the latest Justice Department case against a perceived enemy of President Trump, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Thursday.

James was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on one count after a mortgage fraud investigation, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

James’ office had no immediate comment Thursday.

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.

The James case remained under seal Thursday, making it impossible to assess what evidence prosecutors have. But as was the case with the Comey charges, the prosecution followed a strikingly unconventional case.

The Trump administration two weeks ago pushed out Erik Siebert, the veteran prosecutor who had overseen the investigation for months but had resisted pressure to file a case, and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who was once Trump’s personal lawyer but who has never worked as a federal prosecutor.

Halligan presented the case to the grand jury herself, as she did in the case against Comey, according to the person familiar with the matter.

Trump has been advocating charging James for months, posting on social media without citing any evidence that she’s “guilty as hell” and telling reporters at the White House, “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”

James, a second-term Democrat, has denied wrongdoing. She has said that she made an error while filling out a form related to a home purchase but quickly rectified it and didn’t deceive the lender.

Her lawyer has accused the Justice Department of concocting a bogus criminal case to settle Trump’s personal vendetta against James, who last year won a staggering judgment against Trump and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he lied to banks and others about the value of his assets.

The Justice Department has also been investigating mortgage-related allegations against Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, using the probe to demand her ouster, and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), whose lawyer called the allegations against him “transparently false, stale, and long debunked.”

But James is a particularly personal target. As attorney general, she sued the Republican president and his administration dozens of times and oversaw a lawsuit accusing him of defrauding banks by dramatically overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements.

An appeals court overturned the fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.

Richer, Sisak and Tucker write for the Associated Press.

Aug. 8 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James‘ office in a criminal investigation.

Two grand jury subpoenas were issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York seeking information about James’ investigations into the Trump Organization and National Rifle Association, according to CNN, NBC News and ABC News.

There is also a grand jury investigation into James in Albany, N.Y. It is said to be looking into deprivation of rights against Trump.

“Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration’s carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign,” said Abbe Lowell, an attorney for James. “Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration. If prosecutors carry out this improper tactic and are genuinely interested in the truth, we are ready and waiting with the facts and law.”

Neither the Justice Department nor the White House has commented on these investigations.

A spokesperson for the New York Attorney General’s office told NBC News: “Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American. We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights.”

James sued and won against Trump and his company over fraudulent misrepresentations of his wealth and financial statements. Her office won over $300 million in the case, which is now at over $500 million in interest while he appeals.

James’ office also sued the NRA and its leadership. James had sought dissolution of the NRA, but that was struck down. But she did win a civil fraud case against Wayne LaPierre. A jury convicted him of taking millions from the organization for personal use.

In May the Justice Department opened an investigation into James’ real estate transaction. She responded, saying that she had made a mistake on a mortgage application and that she had filed letters correcting the error.

James is one of many on Trump’s list of political enemies.

He has repeatedly said she is biased against him. In 2021, he sued to stop her fraud investigation, saying, “Her mission is guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent.” The lawsuit also alleged that Trump was the victim of “viewpoint discrimination.” He later dropped the suit.

The United States Department of Justice has subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had successfully filed a civil lawsuit against US President Donald Trump for alleged fraud in his business dealings.

Friday’s subpoenas come as the department convenes a grand jury to investigate whether James, a Democrat, violated the civil rights of President Donald Trump and other Republican-affiliated entities.

Anonymous sources with knowledge of the subpoenas confirmed their existence to The Associated Press and other news agencies.

According to the media reports, the grand jury will not only probe whether Trump’s rights were violated by the fraud lawsuit, but the subpoenas will also seek information about a second lawsuit James launched against the National Rifle Association (NRA), an influential gun lobby group.

A spokesperson for James’s office did not confirm the subpoenas but rejected any wrongdoing.

“Any weaponisation of the justice system should disturb every American,” the statement said. “We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights.”

James’s personal lawyer, Abbe Lowell, also said in a statement that her legal team was “ready and waiting with the facts and the law”.

“Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign,” Lowell said.

A history of in-court clashes

The reports on Friday revealing the subpoenas have fuelled criticism that Trump is increasingly weaponising the Justice Department to settle scores.

Trump faced numerous legal challenges, both civil and criminal, during his period out of the White House from January 2021 to January 2025. He is the first US president to not only face criminal charges but to be convicted.

James, meanwhile, was among the officials who spearheaded civil proceedings against him.

She took office in January 2019 and has since filed several lawsuits against Trump and his policies.

But one of the most high-profile has been the 2022 case in which she accused Trump of inflating the value of his assets — including his real estate properties and golf clubs — to defraud banks and lenders.

In February 2024, Trump and his sons were ordered to pay $454m in the case, though the president continues to appeal that ruling. Trump has argued his financial statements actually under-valued his assets.

Separately, James successfully filed a lawsuit against the NRA and its founder, Wayne LaPierre, for misusing millions in funding for the group. Trump maintains close ties to the anti-gun control lobby group.

Revenge on political adversaries?

For years, Trump has alleged that he is the subject of a political “witch hunt”.

Those who prosecuted him, he argues, have abused their office for political gain, in an alleged effort to dampen his popularity among voters.

Trump has expressed particular ire towards James, calling her a “horrible person” and a “total crook” in May.

That month, the Justice Department, under his authority, opened an investigation into James’s real estate holdings, alleging she misrepresented her property records to obtain more favourable loans.

Trump has also argued that statements James made on the campaign trail indicate her political bias against him.

While running for office in 2018, for instance, James called Trump “illegitimate”, “incompetent” and “ill-equipped to serve in the highest office of this land”.

Friday’s subpoenas come on the heels of other investigations that critics perceive as retribution from Trump against his political adversaries.

Just this week, the Department of Justice also announced it would open an investigation into members of the administration of former President Barack Obama, a longtime target of Trump’s criticisms.

The probe centres on intelligence community reports examining whether Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.

The reports concluded that Russia sought to sway the election through disinformation, though no votes were tampered with. They also suggested that Russia favoured Trump over his Democratic rival, something Trump has since described as an effort to delegitimise his victory.

Trump has since accused Obama of “treason”, although no evidence has emerged of wrongdoing.

The Department of Justice has also recently sought to purge career employees who worked on two federal criminal cases filed against Trump after he left office in 2021.

The first related to classified documents Trump took from the White House after his 2020 election defeat. The second was connected to Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.