Politics
WATCH: Letitia James Lashes Out Over Indictment, Complains About ‘Weaponized’ Government
New York Attorney General Letitia James lashed out at the Trump Administration after she was indicted on charges of bank fraud relating to a property she owns in Norfolk, Virginia on Thursday.
James was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on charges of bank fraud and making false claims to a financial institution, according to the Department of Justice.
“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,” US Attorney Lindsey Halligan said in a statement. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”
James denied any wrongdoing in a press release roughly an hour after the indictment was handed down.
“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization 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, who campaigned on prosecuting President Trump by any means necessary, ranted.
The attorney general went on to describe the charges against her as “baseless,” further claiming they were only brought because Trump demanded they be. She went on to defend her controversial civil fraud case against the president and his businesses, which found that Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort was worth only between 18 and 35-million-dollars despite the fact that surrounding properties are worth upwards of five times more.
The $400 million penalty imposed on the Trump Organization was tossed by a New York appeals court back in August, which ruled that the penalty was both excessive and unconstitutional.
“This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice,” the embattled attorney general continued. “I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization. We conducted a two -year investigation based on the facts and evidence, not politics. Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud,” she added, failing to note that the controversial ruling is still being appealed.
“I’m a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today, I’m not fearful. I’m fearless. And as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job,” James declared.
If convicted on both counts, James faces up to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million.
The indictment centers 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.”
Additional financial disclosures from James list the property as a rental that has generated thousands of dollars in additional income. Norfolk property records reviewed by the New York Post show that James granted power of attorney to her niece, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, on August. 17, 2023, authorizing the purchase of the Virginia property, for which they obtained a $219,780 mortgage.
The indictment places a timeline on the criminal referral sent by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte back in April, which alleged James may have “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms” by listing the Virginia property as her primary residence despite serving as attorney general of New York. A second property owned by James, a Brooklyn townhome, is listed as her primary residence.
