By Sarah N. Lynch, Luc Cohen and Andrew Goudsward
(Reuters) -New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime foe of President Donald Trump, was indicted on charges of lying on a mortgage application on Thursday, the Justice Department said, as the administration seeks to use government power against those who have pursued investigations into him or publicly resisted his agenda.
A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, returned an indictment charging James with one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a lending institution, court records showed.
James, a Democrat, said in a statement she would continue serving as New York state’s top law enforcement official and called the charges “a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
“We will fight these baseless charges aggressively,” James said.
The indictment accuses James of falsely telling a bank that she would occupy a Norfolk, Virginia, home she bought in 2020 for around $137,000 as a secondary residence, when she allegedly used it as an investment property.
The indictment said the alleged misrepresentation allowed James to receive a favorable interest rate, saving her around $19,000 over the life of the loan.
“The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement.
A federal judge scheduled James’ initial court appearance for October 24 in Norfolk, Virginia.
Trump, a Republican who campaigned in part on a vow of retribution after facing a slew of legal woes since his first term in the White House ended in 2021, has repeatedly assailed James on social media and at political rallies as a partisan enemy.
“This is what tyranny looks like,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who represents New York, said in a statement. “President Trump is using the Justice Department as his personal attack dog.”
INDICTMENT FOLLOWS CHARGES AGAINST COMEY
The indictment of James comes after a grand jury in Virginia on September 25 indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation. Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. Trump has regularly assailed Comey’s handling of the FBI investigation that detailed contacts between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Both indictments come after Trump, in a September 20 social media post addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, said James, Comey, and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff were “guilty as hell.”
The indictments against James and Comey were both brought by Halligan, who was installed last month as the top federal prosecutor in Alexandria, Virginia. Her predecessor, Erik Siebert, resigned on September 19, hours after Trump told reporters, “I want him out.”
Siebert believed the evidence against Comey and James was weak, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters at the time.
As with the Comey case, Halligan presented the evidence against James to the grand jury by herself, without support from career prosecutors in the office, a person familiar with the matter said. Prosecutors in the office have previously expressed concerns about the strength of the evidence against her, Reuters previously reported.
Comey’s lawyers are expected to argue Halligan was unlawfully appointed as U.S. attorney. If that motion is successful, it could complicate the cases against Comey and James down the road.
JAMES’ OFFICE SUED TRUMP
James is one of several Democratic state attorneys general who have sued to block Trump administration actions. She is best known for bringing a civil fraud case against Trump and his family real estate company in 2022. The case resulted in a $454.2 million penalty against Trump after a judge found he fraudulently overstated his net worth to dupe lenders.
A New York state appeals court in August threw out the penalty, which had grown to more than a half-billion dollars with interest, but upheld the trial judge’s finding that Trump was liable for fraud. Both Trump and James’ office are appealing to the state’s highest court.
Trump denied wrongdoing. He has accused James’ office of bringing the case against him for political reasons.
James’ lawyer Abbe Lowell said in a statement that he was concerned the case was driven by Trump’s desire for revenge.
“We will fight these charges in every process allowed in the law,” Lowell said.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jamar Walker, who was appointed by former Democratic President Joe Biden.
OTHER TRUMP FOES PROBED
The Justice Department’s mortgage fraud probe into James was opened after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, a Trump appointee, sent the Justice Department a criminal referral letter.
The Justice Department, after receiving referrals from Pulte, has also opened mortgage fraud probes into Schiff, a Democrat who led the House of Representatives’ inquiry that led to Trump’s impeachment in 2019, and Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors appointed by Biden.
Neither Schiff nor Cook has been charged with a crime, and they both deny wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward in Washington and Luc Cohen in New York Editing by Noeleen Walder and Rod Nickel)
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