WASHINGTON — New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who has clashed with President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Virginia.
James was charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution after Trump publicly called for his Justice Department appointees to bring charges against her. The indictment alleges James falsely claimed that a home in Norfolk, Virginia, was her second residence, allowing her to obtain favorable loan terms, and that she rented the property to a family of three.
James could face up to 30 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine on each count if she’s convicted.
She vehemently denied the charges.
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost," James said in a statement that she also read aloud in a video on X. "The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties."
The case, brought by Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges that James improperly obtained a fixed-rate conventional mortgage at an interest rate of 3% by saying the house was a “secondary residence.” The indictment alleges that James instead used the house as a “rental investment property,” which prosecutors said should have carried a mortgage rate of 3.815% at the time.
As a result, James stood to save “approximately $17,837” over the life of the loan, the indictment says. It does not describe the term of the mortgage loan, but the Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk’s office told NBC News that it was a 30-year loan.
Based on the government’s allegations, James has paid about $594 less in interest per year, or roughly $50 less a month, over the last five years than she would have paid had she characterized the purchase as an investment property.
As NBC News reported in August, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed a “special attorney” to probe mortgage fraud allegations against James, who brought a successful civil fraud case against Trump before he retook the presidency.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte had referred the case to the Justice Department, alleging that James had made false statements on mortgage loan applications. But the case hit a standstill last month because federal agents and prosecutors didn't believe they had the evidence to secure a conviction, two senior federal law enforcement officials told NBC News last month.
Erik S. Siebert, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned under pressure last month after Trump said he wanted him "out."
Trump then named Halligan, one of his personal attorneys, to be acting U.S. attorney, though she lacked any prosecutorial experience.
Halligan said in a statement after James was indicted that the “charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.”
“The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served,” she added.
James' attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the case "is driven by President Trump's desire for revenge."
"When a President can publicly direct charges to be filed against someone — when it was reported that career attorneys concluded none were warranted — it marks a serious attack on the rule of law," Lowell said in a statement. "We will fight these charges in every process allowed in the law.”
The White House declined to comment on the indictment.
James' first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 24 in Norfolk.
Trump has repeatedly sought charges against his political enemies, including James and former FBI Director James Comey, who was indicted in September on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
“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 said on Truth Social less than a week before Comey was indicted. In addition to Comey and James, Trump has called for charges against Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Halligan presented the case against Comey to a federal grand jury, doing so by herself in a break from Justice Department norms and convincing a majority of the grand jurors that there was probable cause to indict him on two of the three counts she presented. Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday and plans to challenge Halligan’s appointment.
The standard for securing an indictment before a federal grand jury is much lower than it is for securing a unanimous conviction by a jury at trial. 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 would be enough to obtain and sustain a conviction.
"It would be interesting to see how many grand jurors actually voted for the indictment," former U.S. Attorney Carol Lam said Thursday on NBC News NOW. "In the case of Jim Comey, it was 14 out of 23. And I will tell you, as a prosecutor, if I had even one or two grand jurors expressing concern and not voting for an indictment, I would be very, very concerned, because they are only voting on probable cause and they are not voting beyond a reasonable doubt."
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jamar K. Walker, a Biden appointee. Walker previously served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he prosecuted financial and public corruption crimes.
Democrats swiftly condemned the Trump administration over James' indictment, much as they did after Comey was charged.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday on X that Americans were seeing “nothing less than the weaponization of the Justice Department to punish those who hold the powerful accountable.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Trump of "using the Justice Department as his personal attack dog" and targeting James for having successfully prosecuted him and his companies and secured a $500 million judgment, which a New York appeals court later tossed out.
"This isn’t justice. It’s revenge," Schumer said in a statement. "And it should horrify every American who believes no one is above the law."
Republicans on Capitol Hill had a different take.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., dismissed concerns about Trump's pressuring Bondi to pursue prosecutions against his political opponents.
"The president can't make a grand jury do anything," Lankford told NBC News of James' indictment.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., pushed back against claims of weaponization by the Justice Department, saying, “There’s just some accountability that’s happening now.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who has been critical of Trump in the past and isn’t seeking re-election, told NBC News that he hopes “they’ve done their homework and they’ve got a valid basis for the indictment.”
