A Virginia grand jury on Thursday indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on bank fraud charges following intense pressure from President Donald Trump to bring the case.
Trump had demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi prosecute James. Last Saturday, the president called James “scum” in a Truth Social post and said she should be removed from her job. He also railed against “her WITCH HUNT against President Donald J. Trump, and others.”
James was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, according to the indictment.
“No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” said U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, the president’s newly installed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who also secured an indictment of former FBI Director James Comey two weeks ago.
Comey pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday.
Halligan was Trump’s hand-picked choice to replace Erik Siebert, the previous head of the office who resigned after the president threatened to fire him for resisting pressure to charge both Comey and James.
A former White House aide and lawyer to Trump, Halligan last month took the unusual step of presenting evidence against Comey by herself after several assistant U.S. attorneys who reported to her declined to participate. It was Halligan’s first time ever prosecuting a case.
And on Thursday, she presented the evidence against James alone after a senior supervisor in her office indicated to colleagues that she she did not see probable cause to seek an indictment against the New York attorney general.
Like the Comey indictment, the one against James was signed solely by Halligan. Comey’s attorneys indicated they would challenge the indictment based on Halligan’s status as an interim U.S. attorney.
The legal team representing James alleged that Thursday’s indictment amounted to political retaliation against the New York attorney general, who last year secured a civil fraud verdict and a nearly $500 million penalty against Trump. While the verdict was upheld on appeal, the staggering monetary penalty was thrown out in August. “Attorney General James flatly and forcefully denies these charges. We are deeply concerned that this case is driven by President Trump’s desire for revenge,” James’ lawyer, Abbe David Lowell, said in a statement. “When a President can publicly direct charges to be filed against someone — when it was reported that career attorneys concluded none were warranted — it marks a serious attack on the rule of law. We will fight these charges in every process allowed in the law.” James agreed with her lawyer’s assessment, saying in her own separate statement, “These charges are baseless, and the President’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost.” The indictment against James stems from allegations made by Bill Pulte, a Trump ally who the president appointed to be his director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Citing “media reports,” Pulte accused James of improperly taking out a mortgage loan to help her niece buy a house in Norfolk, Virginia. James and Comey are among several of Trump’s perceived enemies who he has vowed his administration will prosecute. They include: former Trump national security adviser John Bolton; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; former CIA Director John Brennan; top Democratic political donor George Soros; and former senior FBI officials.
Ken Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for MS NOW.
Carol Leonnig is a senior investigative reporter with MS NOW.
Vaughn Hillyard is a senior White House reporter for MS NOW.
Fallon Gallagher is a legal affairs reporter for MS NOW. Recommended
