New York Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted by a grand jury on federal charges, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Oct. 9.
The indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Court of Virginia, charges James with one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements in connection to property she owns in Norfolk, Virginia.
Prosecutors alleged that James falsely claimed that a home in Norfolk was her second residence, allowing her to obtain favorable loan terms. She rented the property to a family, an action prohibited by the loan terms, according to the indictment.
James, who has previously denied wrongdoing, was being investigated for mortgage fraud statement after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte alleged earlier this year that she falsely described her Norfolk home as a primary residence in order to secure a more favorable interest rate on a home mortgage loan. Pulte further alleged that James may have inaccurately described her home in Brooklyn.
“No one is above the law,” U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan said in a about James’s indictment.
“The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.
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“The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”
Halligan’s office said James could face up to 30 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines for each count.
James’s office did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment. However, James released a statement on X on the evening of Oct. 9 saying she will fight the charges and describing them as “baseless” and “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
“We will fight these baseless charges aggressively,” she said, “and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights.”
Pulte, who submitted his allegations to the Department of Justice in April, accused James of falsifying bank documents and property records in an attempt to “acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.”
He said James had said she lived in Virginia to purchase a home in Norfolk while serving as the attorney general in New York state, where she must live to stay in her position.
James was also alleged to have co-signed a mortgage with her niece to purchase a home in Norfolk, according to the letter.
The letter further said James did not accurately represent a description of a Brooklyn property in order to fulfill requirements in obtaining a federal loan.
Following the issuance of Pulte’s letter, James’s office denied the allegations and accused the Trump administration of acting in a politically motivated manner.
“Attorney General James is focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this Administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution,” a spokesperson for James’s office told The Epoch Times in April. “She will not be intimidated by bullies—no matter who they are.”
Since taking office, President Donald Trump on several occasions has said that James should be charged by the Justice Department.
In September, the president posted on Truth Social that Attorney General Pam Bondi should look into cases against former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and James, describing them as “guilty as hell,” while lamenting that “nothing is going to be done.”
Trump also told reporters at the White House earlier this year, “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”
On Oct. 8, Comey appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to charges of making a false statement and obstructing a congressional proceeding. A trial date was set for Jan. 5, 2026.
In the years before Trump took office, James brought a civil case against The Trump Organization that accused his real estate business of artificially inflating its assets to secure more favorable bank loans. A Manhattan-based judge in 2024 ordered The Trump Organization to pay a nearly $500 million penalty, although that judgment was thrown out on appel on Aug. 21.
