The Trump administration is again seeking to prosecute Letitia James, attorney general of New York, after failing to do so several times last year. File Photo by Derek French/UPI | License Photo
The Trump administration is again seeking to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James after a judge threw out its case against her and grand juries twice declined to indict her last year, according to reports.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte is accusing James of alleged homeowners insurance fraud, according too documents obtained by CNN, NBC News and MS News.
Pulte reportedly issued criminal referrals dated Wednesday to the U.S. attorneys for the Justice Department in the Northern District of Illinois and the Southern District of Florida, asking them to investigate James over alleged misrepresentation in insurance applications.
According to the documents, Pulte alleges that James may have defrauded an Illinois-based insurance company as well as a Florida-based company in connection with her applications for homeowners insurance for two separate Norfolk, Va., properties.
Both referrals reference publicly available court documents from James’ previous court case that were published online by lawyer and President Donald Trump supporter Mike Davis.
“The Department of Justice can confirm that referrals were received by our U.S. attorney offices,” a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed to CNN.
Trump, who campaigned on using the Justice Department to go after his political rivals, has repeatedly used the presidency to target perceived political foes, from law firms associated with lawyers who prosecuted him to Democratic critics as well as former officials who investigated him.
James has been a target of Trump since she successfully sued him in a major civil case in 2022 that found he had committed a long-running financial fraud scheme of overstating asset values in order to obtain favorable loans and insurance terms. He was ordered to pay a $464 million civil fraud penalty, which was later reduced on appeal in August.
The Trump administration last fall sought to prosecute James for mortgage fraud after prosecutors alleged she falsely claimed a Norfolk property she bought in 2020 would be her primary residence in order to secure better mortgage terms — an indictment that was thrown out in November.
Then two separate grand juries declined to indict her in December.
Abbe Lowell, James’ attorney, accused Trump and his administration in a statement of “abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her by trying to rename, refile and repeat baseless allegations.”
“They continue this improper revenge campaign instead of helping bring down the rising cost of living in this country,” Lowell said.
“These desperate tactics will fail — just as every previous attempt has failed — and expose an administration that has abandoned its responsibility to the American people in favor of petty political payback.”
