A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James for bank fraud. Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, personally presented the case to the grand jury, which is not the usual norm.
A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James for bank fraud. A person familiar with the matter told The Guardian that Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, personally presented the case to the grand jury on Thursday. What makes the case interesting is the fact that the US attorneys do not typically present to a grand jury.
“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponisation of our justice system. He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York state attorney general,” James said in a recorded video statement on Thursday.
“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.
Interestingly, Halligan was installed in the role last month after the US President Donald Trump became frustrated with the pace of the investigation against James, who is touted as one of the key rivals of the Republican firebrand. “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.”
Trump and his crusade against his political enemies
It is pertinent to note that the US president has made little secret of his desire to use the Department of Justice to punish his rivals, especially political enemies. “What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” he said in a September post on Truth Social that was addressed to Pam Bondi, the US attorney general. “We can’t delay any longer; it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”
Trump’s latest efforts to weaponise the American justice system came two weeks after Halligan secured charges against James Comey, the former FBI director. However, Career prosecutors prepared a memo in that case outlining why charges were not warranted. Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.
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The facts of the charges against James are not immediately clear. Earlier this year, a grand jury had been investigating allegations that James may have committed fraud when she helped her niece buy a home in Virginia.
On a document that was part of that transaction, there was a box checked indicating that James intended to use it as her primary residence, which would make better mortgage rates available. However, in other documents and emails with her mortgage broker, James clearly indicated she did not intend to use the home as her primary residence.
So, is there a case against James?
A career prosecutor in the eastern district of Virginia, Elizabeth Yusi, had determined there wasn’t probable cause to file mortgage fraud charges against James and had been preparing to present her thinking to Halligan.
It is important to note that James attracted the wrath of US President Donald Trump’s administration after she led a civil fraud case against the president and his business that resulted in a $500m fine (the fine was recently overturned by an appellate court).
There has been a persistent turmoil in the US Attorneys’ offices for the Eastern District of Virginia in recent weeks. Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, was removed from his post for failing to bring charges against Comey and James. Maya Song, one of his top deputies, was also fired. A third prosecutor, Michael Ben’Ary, who was not involved in the Comey case, was also fired after being targeted by Trump allies online.
Meanwhile, William Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a strong ally of Trump, has made criminal referrals on mortgage issues against several Trump rivals, including James, the California senator Schiff, and the Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook.
