Trump adversary Letitia James hit with mortgage fraud indictment

NORFOLK, Va. (CN) — The Justice Department indicted another of President Donald Trump’s adversaries Thursday, accusing New York Attorney General Letitia James of mortgage fraud.

The indictment concerns James’s purported use of falsified records to get favorable loans on a Norfolk, Virginia, home she purchased in 2023. James, a Democrat, has been a fervent critic of Trump since his first presidential term. She accused him in his second term of going on a “revenge tour” by using the executive branch to punish his political opposition.

“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” James said in a social media video posted Thursday. “This is a time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice.”

The Justice Department claims that James purchased a three-bedroom home for $137,000, financed with a loan of $109,600 from Old Virginia Mortgage Company in 2020. The loan required James as the sole borrower to occupy and use the property as her second residence.

“Despite these representations, the Peronne property was not occupied or used by James as a secondary residence and was instead used as a rental investment property, renting the property to a family of three,” the department wrote. “This misrepresentation allowed James to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties.”

The accusations amount to charges of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution. If convicted, James will have to forfeit the property to the government and pay an $18,000 judgment.

The indictment comes two weeks after the newly appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, indicted former FBI Director James Comey over his congressional testimony that he did not authorize a colleague to leak information used in a Wall Street Journal article. Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.

Trump parted ways with the previous U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, over his unwillingness to prosecute James. Trump has been on the receiving end of over a dozen lawsuits from James. The attorney general became one of Trump’s top targets after her case against the president’s business empire successfully marked Trump as a fraud for inflating yearly financial statements to appear wealthier to banks, insurers, and the media.

The president called James a disaster on Saturday.

“She is a complete and total disaster, who tried running against Kathy Hochul for Governor, and only got 1% of the vote in polls, and QUIT. She then went back to her WITCH HUNT against President Donald J. Trump, and others,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Until this ‘SCUM’ is removed from the Attorney General’s Office, no company will move to New York, and few companies will be using the New York Stock Exchange, or NASDAQ, for going public.”

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi chimed in on X following the indictment.

“One tier of justice for all Americans,” Bondi posted.

James said in her two-minute video that she stands behind the litigation her office has pursued against Trump.

“I’m not fearful, I’m fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper,” James said. “We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights, and I will continue to do my job.”

U.S. District Judge Jamar Walker, a Joe Biden appointee, will oversee the case.