Letitia James, the New York attorney general who defeated Trump in court, indicted by Justice Department
By Kristen Holmes, Hannah Rabinowitz, Kara Scannell, CNN
(CNN) — New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia, as President Donald Trump’s Justice Department continues to pursue charges against his political opponents, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
James has been under investigation since May over a 2023 mortgage she took out to help her niece buy a home in Norfolk, Virginia.
The charges come as Trump continues to call for his enemies to be prosecuted in court. Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday to allegedly making a false statement in a congressional proceeding. The Justice Department has also opened investigation into former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, and others.
James’ relationship with Trump has been adversarial for years as James campaigned on promises to investigate Trump and ultimately won a civil fraud case against Trump, his adult sons and his real estate business. A judge found them liable for fraud for inflating the value of their properties, and ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties. Trump has appealed.
During the 11-week trial, Trump’s anger toward James was palpable. He railed against her in the courthouse hallways and from the witness stand. Trump testified as James sat across from him in the courtroom galley.
“This is a political witch hunt and I think she should be ashamed of herself,” Trump testified. “You believe this political hack back there and that’s unfortunate.”
James often punched back outside of the courtroom, on social media or in video statements.
Last month CNN reported that Justice Department prosecutors in Virginia, led at the time by Erik Seibert, interviewed dozens of witnesses and did not believe they gathered enough evidence to support criminal charges against James.
Under pressure by Trump to bring charges against Comey and James, Seibert resigned and was replaced as US attorney by Trump’s former personal attorney Lindsey Halligan.
Mortgage fraud investigaiton
The investigation is focused on a mortgage obtained in 2023 for a property in Norfork, Virginia.
Her attorneys provided a document to the Justice Department in April to push back on what they called “threadbare” allegations.
They said that one document in the mortgage application “mistakenly” said the property would be James’ primary residence. But they submitted other documents to argue there was no fraud.
In one document, James writes in an email to her loan originator, “this property WILL NOT be my primary residence.”
James also checked a box on another document that indicated the property would not be her primary residence.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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