New York’s Letitia James gets taste of charges she filed vs Trump
WASHINGTON—New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday on mortgage fraud charges in a case that mirrors the fraud charges she brought against President Donald Trump in 2022.
James, a Democrat who claimed Trump built his business empire on lies about his wealth, was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a home purchase in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020.
‘Weaponization’
The indictment comes two weeks after a separate criminal case charged former FBI Director James Comey with lying to Congress in relation to the discredited Russia collusion investigation.
James, who had vigorously pursued a similar case against Trump, decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
“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.
Lindsey Halligan, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, presented the James case to the grand jury, as she did in the case against Comey, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press (AP).
James is scheduled to make an initial appearance in the federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, on Oct. 24.
First black
James, 66, has been New York’s attorney general since 2019 after becoming the first Black woman to be elected to statewide office. She cruised to reelection in 2022 after abandoning a short-lived run for governor.
The indictment pertains to James’ purchase of a house in Norfolk. 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.
“No one is above the law,” Halligan said in a statement. “The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust. The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”
James, who ran for office promising to “get Trump” and to be a “real pain in (his) ass,” sued the Republican president and his administration dozens of times. Last year, she won a staggering judgment against Trump 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 “excessive” fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.
