• Entering a plea: New York Attorney General Letitia James has entered pleas of not guilty at her Norfolk, VA, federal court arraignment on felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. A trial was set for Jan. 26.
• Trump’s retribution campaign: James is among those that President Donald Trump has long sought retribution agains. James won a civil suit against Trump, his adult sons, and the Trump organization for inflating the value of his properties to obtain favorable interest rates on loans and insurance.
• The charges: Prosecutors allege James misled a bank when she obtained a mortgage on a Norfolk, Virginia, property by stating it would be a second home, not an investment property. They say doing so allowed her to save $18,933 over the life of the loan. James calls the charges baseless, and a person familiar told CNN her grandniece and the woman’s children live there and James has never collected rent.
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The Virginia federal prosecutor who resisted bringing mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James sent investigative files with James’ personally identifying information to her own private email account, according an email reviewed by CNN.
The prosecutor, Beth Yusi, was dismissed earlier this month at least in part because of the mishandling of the personal information, people familiar with her termination said.
Yusi’s attorney Margaret Donovan, however, told CNN that the former prosecutor “has no record of any such email” and “has never used her personal email account for any portion of any investigation.”
“Ms. Yusi is a well-respected prosecutor, a leader among her peers, and a consummate professional with nearly two decades of experience,” Donovan said.
Before her ousting, Yusi authored an internal memo that explained why prosecutors believed there was not enough evidence to bring charges against James. Her firing drew immediate criticism from those who have accused the Justice Department of following directives from the White House to target Trump’s political opponents.
After her arraignment in federal court, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will not be deterred” by her prosecution.
“There’s no fear today, no fear,” James said in a brief statement outside the Norfolk, Virginia, federal courthouse as protesters chanted alongside her. “Because I believe that justice will rain down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
She decried the case she faces, saying the justice system was being used as a “tool of revenge” and a “weapon against those individuals who simply did their job and who stood up for the rule of law.”
“I will not be distracted. I will do my job each and every day … there’s work to be done standing up for the rule of law.”
Letitia James
The motion from James to have the case against her dismissed based on President Donald Trump’s appointment of Lindsey Halligan as interim US Attorney in Northern Virginia will be combined with a similar motion from former FBI Director James Comey.
Both sides have agreed to file a motion to combine the issue with Comey’s case.
The president handpicked Halligan to serve as interim US attorney in the Virginia district and see through the James and Comey prosecutions amid questions internally over whether there was evidence to indict either of them.
Comey’s defense attorneys are saying that Halligan can’t serve as interim US attorney because that position hit its 120 day limit. They also say Halligan’s new role does not appear to fit two exceptions for appointments to such vacancies under the law: She is not Senate confirmed nor is she someone who has been employed in Justice Department for at least 90 days.
James’ attorney told the he expects to file a motion to dismiss the case against her based on claims that the Justice Department is engaging in vindictive and selective prosecution.
The judge said they must file it by November 7 and the Justice Department must respond by November 21, with a further response from James by November 28. A hearing on the motion would happen on December 5.
New York Attorney General Letitia James was released on personal recognizance after entering her not guilty pleas. The hearing has ended.
A small group of protesters gathered outside the courthouse where Letitia James is being arraigned.
The judge said the trial could take five days and he didn’t believe there was much complexity to the case that would require more time.
The Justice Department said it has eight to 10 witnesses it may call.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
“Not guilty judge to both counts,” James told the judge.
The federal judge in Virginia overseeing New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case has a long history of public service in the Commonwealth.
US District Judge Jamar Walker was nominated to the Eastern District of Virginia in 2022 by then-President Joe Biden and confirmed to the lifetime position by the Senate with bipartisan support the following year.
Walker was randomly assigned James’ case after a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicted her this month on two felony charges. Though the judge has maintained a low profile since taking the bench, all eyes will be on his courtroom in Norfolk when he presides over the first court proceeding in the matter.
Prior to becoming a federal judge, Walker worked in the same US Attorney’s Office in Alexandria that is now handling James’ case. While there, he served for a time as a top prosecutor in the office’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit, according to a court biography.
After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law, Walker clerked for Judge Raymond A. Jackson, whose seat he now occupies. Following the clerkship, he worked in private practice in Washington, DC, for several years.
Walker’s confirmation made him the first openly gay federal judge to serve in Virginia.
Lindsey Halligan, a fierce Trump ally, assumed the job of top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia last month Within days, she pursued indictments against the former FBI Director James Comey and then James.
Halligan’s predecessor, Erik Siebert, was pushed out of the job amid political pressure to indict James, CNN reported.
Halligan, a former insurance attorney from Florida, served as one of Trump’s personal attorneys during the initial investigation into whether Trump was illegally keeping classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The president handpicked her to serve as interim US attorney in the Virginia district and see through the James and Comey prosecutions amid questions internally over whether there was evidence to indict either of them.
Halligan, who had no previous prosecutorial experience, was the only prosecutor to sign the two indictments against Trump’s perceived enemies.
Halligan faces new scrutiny this week after contacting a reporter – Lawfare’s Anna Bower – on the messaging platform Signal two days after securing the grand jury indictment against James about the case.
James attorneys filed a motion Thursday evening asking a federal judge to bar Halligan and other prosecutors from making public statements outside of court referencing Halligan’s recently revealed conversations with Bower. The prosecutor offered her thoughts on the “credibility and general strength of the evidence presented to the grand jury.”
Those comments – which Bower reported earlier this week – represented “a stunning disclosure of internal government information,” attorneys for James said in the filing Thursday.
James’ defense team also wants the judge to require prosecutors to keep a list of all contacts they have with members of the media.
For months, President Donald Trump has openly discussed his plans to have a list of his perceived political enemies prosecuted.
Now his Justice Department has been making good on that promise in recent weeks with the indictments of Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey and former Trump adviser John Bolton.
Comey, a longtime adversary of the president, was the first senior government official to face federal charges. He’s pleaded not guilty to two felony counts for allegedly lying to Congress during testimony he gave in 2020.
Former national security adviser John Bolton faces an 18-count federal indictment on counts of transmission of national defense information and retention of national defense information. He has also pleaded not guilty.
The indictment came down days after James was charged though Trump has been calling for charges against his former ally since the release of Bolton’s 2020 memoir that was highly critical of the president. The US Attorney’s office has been quietly building a case against Bolton for years, CNN has reported.
All three of Trump’s indicted political foes have said they’re victims of his weaponization of the Justice Department.
And more indictments could be coming.
The Justice Department, led by its weaponization working group head, Ed Martin, is reportedly investigating Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and the former Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over potential mortgage fraud, CNN previously reported.
Trump has also publicly said he thought billionaire George Soros, known for backing liberal causes, could be another “likely candidate” for an investigation.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is facing one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution.
Prosecutors allege James misled a bank when she obtained a mortgage on a Norfolk, Virginia, property by stating it would be a second home, not an investment property.
According to the indictment, the lower interest rate for a second home mortgage allowed James to save $18,933 over the 30-year life of the loan. It also alleges James filed a tax form indicating she received thousands of dollars in rental income.
James has called the allegations baseless. A person familiar with the property says James’ grandniece and her three children live at the home. James never gave up control of the property, never received rental payments and stays there during the year, the person said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has arrived at the federal courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia, to be arraigned on charges related to alleged mortgage fraud.
Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s handpicked interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is also present at the courthouse.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
James and Trump have a long history of animosity toward each other.
James campaigned for New York attorney general in 2016 vowing to “shine a bright light” into Donald Trump’s real estate business. In 2022, she filed civil fraud charges alleging Trump, his adult sons, and the Trump organization inflated the value of hotels, golf courses, and other properties to obtain favorable interest rates on loans and insurance.
A judge found Trump liable and ordered him to pay $454 million, including interest. A panel of appeals court judges upheld the fraud finding but dismissed the penalty, finding it excessive. Both sides have appealed.
Trump has called James “racist” and “corrupt” and in 2024, while campaigning for president, said “she ought to be looked at.”
Last month, Trump posted publicly on Truth Social a message, which was allegedly supposed to be private, to Attorney General Pam Bondi calling on her to move quickly. “Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell,” the president wrote.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is set to be arraigned Friday at a federal courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia, two weeks after she was indicted on felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
During the proceeding, which will take place before US District Judge Jamar Walker, James will be formally charged and will enter a plea.
She is expected to plead not guilty to the two felony charges.
The judge will also inform James of her rights and decide whether she will be detained as she awaits trial or set conditions of her release.
The judge could also chose a trial date during Friday’s arraignment.
The proceeding is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET and could be brief. The arraignments this month of former FBI Director James Comey and ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton both lasted less than 30 minutes.
Washington lawyer Abbe Lowell is the lead attorney representing James in the investigation.
Lowell is well known for defending politicians and has won acquittals or mistrials for several high-profile clients, including former Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards, who was charged with campaign finance violations.
A long-time Washington insider, Lowell served as counsel to House Democrats during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. He also represented Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner during the special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, and later Hunter Biden on gun and tax charges.
After years working at a large DC law firm, earlier this year Lowell set up his own shop driven by “the Trump administration’s attempts to use the legal system to silence perceived opponents and critics.”
His roster of clients includes former national security adviser John Bolton, whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security Miles Taylor, and several former FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors who were fired from their positions.
