Politics
JUST IN: Virginia Grand Jury Refuses To Indict Letitia James
A federal grand jury in deep blue Norfolk, Virginia has refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on mortgage fraud charges. James was previously indicted earlier this year, though the case was tossed by a federal judge on a technicality surrounding the appointment of interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan.
Halligan initially presented the facts of the case to the grand jury herself, but that case was declared void on November 24 when U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie declared that her appointment was unlawful. The Justice Department initially indicated that they would be appealing the ruling, though they ultimately decided to scrap that route and seek a new indictment instead.
The new case was then presented to a grand jury in Norfolk by different prosecutors. On Thursday, a grand jury declined to re-indict James, though the development does not bar prosecutors from once again seeking an indictment.
A source familiar with the case told NBC News that there “should be no premature celebrations.”
NEW YORK, N.Y. – November 3, 2022: New York Attorney General Letitia James addresses a campaign rally at Barnard College in New York City.
The indictment centered on a single-family home in Norfolk, Virginia that was co-purchased by James in August 2020 for roughly $137,000, most of which was financed with a $109,600 loan that prohibited it from being used as a rental investment property, prosecutors have alleged. This allowed her to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties,” prosecutors alleged in a five-page court filing, which allowed her to save “approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.”
According to disclosures to the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, which were reviewed by the New York Post, the property is listed as an “investment” in the “real estate” section of James’ 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 disclosures to the commission. In 2024, she then designated the Norfolk home as a “real property” rather than an “investment,” however.
James also estimated the value of the property anywhere between $150,000 and $200,000.
The 2024 disclosure was filed in May of this year, just a month after Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department alleging that James may have committed fraud by mischaracterizing the property in order to secure more favorable loan terms. It is unclear why James opted to change the word “investment” to “real property” on her 2024 disclosure.
James also did not disclose any revenue generated from renting out the home on her disclosure forms from 2021 through 2024, despite the fact that it generated thousands of dollars, prosecutors alleged.
