Letitia James – New York attorney general and long-time critic of Donald Trump – has been indicted for fraud.
Ms James, a Democrat, was charged on Thursday with one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution, in connection with a home she purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020.
The 66-year-old could face up to 30 years in prison and up to a $1m (£752m) fine on each count if convicted, according to Sky’s US partner network NBC News.
Mr Trump has been advocating charging Ms James for months, posting on social media without citing any evidence that she’s “guilty as hell” and telling reporters at the White House: “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”
In a lengthy statement, Ms James vehemently denied any wrongdoing and described the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponisation of our justice system”.
She said: “These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost.”
The indictment was presented to a grand jury by Lindsey Halligan, the newly appointed attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Ms Halligan, who has previously worked as a lawyer for Mr Trump, replaced veteran prosecutor Erik Siebert, who had resisted filing charges against Ms James and former FBI director James Comey, who was charged with lying to Congress two weeks ago.
The indictment pertains to Ms James’s purchase of a house in Norfolk, where she has family.
During the sale, she allegedly signed a document called a “second home rider” in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her “personal use and enjoyment for at least one year”. However, the indictment claims she instead rented it out to a family of three.
According to the indictment, the misrepresentation allowed Ms James to obtain favourable loan terms that are not available for investment properties.
History of Trump and James
Ms James’s indictment is the latest indication that the Trump administration is determined to use the powers of the justice department to target the president’s political and public figure foes.
In a statement on Truth Social last month, Mr Trump called on US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the department, to prosecute his political opponents.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Trump wrote.
Ms James is a particularly personal target of Mr Trump. During the president’s first term in office, she sued him and his administration dozens of times.
Last year, she won a staggering judgment against the Trump Organization after she brought a civil lawsuit alleging he and his companies defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements.
An appeals court later overturned a hefty fine Mr Trump was ordered to pay, but upheld a lower court’s finding that he had committed fraud.
What happens now?
Ms James is scheduled to make an initial appearance in the federal court in Norfolk on 24 October.
The case has been assigned to US District Judge Jamar K Walker, who was appointed by Joe Biden.
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The standard for securing an indictment before a federal grand jury is much lower than securing a unanimous conviction by a jury at trial, NBC reported.
The Justice Manual, which guides federal prosecutors, says attorneys for the government should move forward on a case only if they believe the admissible evidence – evidence that is allowed to be presented in a court of law – would be enough to obtain and sustain a conviction.
