(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.
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 grand jury returned two felony charges: bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. James’ first court appearance is scheduled for October 24 in Norfolk.
According to the indictment, James claimed on mortgage paperwork that a home she purchased in Norfolk would be her second residence. That claim allowed her to get favorable loan terms not available for investment properties, prosecutors say.
But, prosecutors allege, James did not use the house and instead rented the property to a family of three. They allege she falsely stated in loan applications that the residence would be a secondary home when they allege James knew she would use it as an investment property.
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.
“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” James said in a statement.
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” she added. “The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.”
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 U.S. attorney by Trump’s former personal attorney Lindsey Halligan.
“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,” 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.”
Ed Martin, Trump’s Justice Department weaponization chief, posted on social media after the charges were announced: “Promises made, Promises kept.”
Martin previously posed for photos outside of James’ Brooklyn home in August and called on her to resign in a letter to her attorney.
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.
The-CNN-Wire
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