New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James speaks throughout a press convention on January 8, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs
A federal grand jury in Virginia has indicted New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James on one depend of financial institution fraud and one depend of constructing a false assertion to a monetary establishment — expenses that come after regular strain from President Trump to prosecute certainly one of his longtime political foes.
James, a Democrat who pledged to analyze Trump throughout her marketing campaign, finally sued Trump and his firm for inflating the worth of a few of its properties, profitable greater than $450 million within the civil enterprise fraud case. The monetary penalty was later thrown out on enchantment.
At certainly one of his personal marketing campaign rallies final yr, Trump referred to as for each James and the decide in that case to “be arrested and punished accordingly.” The president has been persistent in his calls since taking workplace, writing “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED” in a submit on TruthSocial final month that was directed at Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi.
Thursday’s indictment accuses James of mendacity on her software for a $109,600 mortgage to purchase a property in Norfolk, Va. in 2020, alleging she promised her monetary lenders it will be a secondary property for her private use — however that she as a substitute rented it out. The federal government says she benefited from “ill-gotten positive aspects” of $18,933 from favorable phrases together with a decrease borrowing charge and a better vendor credit score.
In a video posted to social media, James denied the fees as “baseless” and criticized the president’s actions as a “grave violation of our Constitutional order.”
“That is nothing greater than a continuation of the president’s determined weaponization of our justice system,” James mentioned. “He’s forcing federal legislation enforcement businesses to do his bidding, all as a result of I did my job because the New York State Lawyer Normal.”
Federal prosecutors within the Jap District of Virginia spent months on the case this yr. A Republican profession prosecutor there decided there was not sufficient proof to convey a case towards James. Then he was pressured out of his job by the White Home, solely to get replaced by Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance coverage lawyer in Florida with no expertise as a prosecutor.
“Nobody is above the legislation. The fees as alleged on this case signify intentional, felony acts and large breaches of the general public’s belief,” Halligan mentioned in a press release. “The information and the legislation on this case are clear, and we’ll proceed following them to make sure that justice is served.”
Final month, Halligan secured an indictment towards former FBI Director James Comey, who has pleaded not responsible to 2 felony expenses.
The fees for James have been pushed partly by Ed Martin, the weaponization czar contained in the Justice Division who traveled to Brooklyn to face exterior certainly one of James’s properties, the place he was photographed by The New York Publish.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for James, has criticized Martin for focusing on Democratic lawmakers and different figures to settle scores for Trump.
“We’re deeply involved that this case is pushed by President Trump’s need for revenge,” Lowell mentioned in a press release on Thursday. “When a President can publicly direct expenses to be filed towards somebody — when it was reported that profession attorneys concluded none have been warranted — it marks a severe assault on the rule of legislation. We are going to struggle these expenses in each course of allowed within the legislation.”
James is scheduled for an preliminary court docket look on October 24.
