James had been a prominent adversary of US President Trump, having won a lawsuit against him for inflating his net worth to mislead lenders.
Letitia James, the New York Attorney General and a persistent critic of former President Donald Trump, has reportedly been charged with bank fraud, according to Reuters, which cited an informed source. This development appears amid a broader pattern of the current administration allegedly leveraging governmental authority against individuals who have investigated Trump or opposed his policies publicly.
The news was simultaneously reported by Reuters and The Associated Press on Thursday.
According to an anonymous informant cited by AP, James was indicted on a single count in the Eastern District of Virginia following an inquiry into mortgage fraud. The details of the indictment remain confidential, preventing public access to the evidence prosecutors may hold.
James’s office declined to comment immediately on the matter.
Trump, a Republican who has campaigned on promises of retaliation after facing numerous legal challenges since leaving office in 2021, has frequently targeted James, a Democrat, branding her a partisan adversary through social media and at campaign events.
This indictment follows a grand jury’s September 25 decision to charge former FBI Director James Comey with making false statements and obstructing a congressional probe. Comey has denied the allegations. Trump has consistently criticized Comey’s management of the FBI’s investigation into alleged contacts between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.
James is among several Democratic state attorneys general who have initiated lawsuits to counteract Trump administration policies. She gained significant attention for a 2022 civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his family’s real estate business, which culminated in a $454.2 million penalty after a judge ruled that Trump had deliberately exaggerated his net worth to deceive lenders.
In August, a New York appeals court overturned the financial penalty, which had increased to over $500 million with accrued interest, but upheld the ruling that Trump was liable for fraud. Both Trump’s and James’s legal teams are appealing to the state’s highest court.
Trump has denied any misconduct and accused James’s office of pursuing the case for political motives.
Earlier this year, the FBI launched a criminal investigation into allegations of mortgage fraud against James.
This probe was initiated after William Pulte, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a Trump appointee, sent a letter to the Department of Justice accusing James of falsifying documents to secure favorable home loans in Virginia and Brooklyn.
James’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, dismissed these claims as “unfounded and thoroughly debunked.”
Following referrals from Pulte, the DOJ has also opened mortgage fraud investigations into Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat who led the House inquiry resulting in Trump’s 2019 impeachment, and Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, appointed by President Joe Biden. Both deny any wrongdoing and have not been charged.
Allegations of Justice System Abuse
In August, a grand jury was convened by the DOJ, which subpoenaed documents from James’s office related to her lawsuit against the National Rifle Association (NRA) and another case. Sources told Reuters that federal prosecutors were scrutinizing whether James’s legal actions infringed on the civil rights of Trump and others.
In the NRA lawsuit, jurors found the former CEO Wayne LaPierre and others responsible for prolonged financial mismanagement, though a judge opted not to appoint an external monitor for the organization.
While appeals are common in legal proceedings, it is rare for prosecutors to investigate government attorneys criminally over cases they have successfully litigated and that courts have upheld.
Lowell described the civil rights investigation as “a blatant and desperate attempt by this administration to execute the president’s political vendetta.”
“The misuse of the justice system should alarm every American. We remain firmly committed to our victorious litigation,” James’s office stated on August 8.
