An experienced federal prosecutor in Virginia has advised her colleagues that she finds no basis there is legal grounds to pursue fraudulent mortgage charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a source knowledgeable about the situation.
The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who supervises major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, plans to soon present her assessment to Lindsey Halligan, a ally of the former president who was placed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in the previous month.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also ignored a request for comment.
High-Profile Dispute Between DOJ and Former President
This case signals another notable confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier fired attorneys who declined to target his opponents. Halligan, who has no prosecutorial experience, was selected to the role at the urging of Trump after her former office holder concluded there was insufficient evidence to file criminal charges against James Comey, the previous FBI director.
Trump has explicitly called for the U.S. Attorney General to charge James, who headed a civil fraud case against the ex-president that resulted in a half-billion dollar fine, though the judgment was subsequently reversed by a New York state appellate court.
Housing Fraud Accusations and Investigation
William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a strong Trump ally, made a allegation against James to the Justice Department in April, alleging she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte pointed to mortgage documents pertaining to a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James supported the acquisition of for her niece, in which James suggested on a document that she planned to occupy the home as her main home. James was holding the position of the Attorney General of New York at the time.
Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to investigate the matter but struggled building a case against James, even with pressure from Trump allies. Emails from the time of the home purchase and additional mortgage documents show James explicitly stating that she did not intend for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence poses a challenge for prosecutors to prove that James deliberately falsified on the mortgage documents.
Recent Turnover in Justice Office
Multiple prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have faced termination or stepped down in recent weeks as Trump has escalated pressure on the office to bring charges against Comey and James.
Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, resigned on September 19 after facing pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a key deputy to Siebert, was also dismissed in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a leading national security prosecutor in the office, was also fired last week after false accusations from a pro-Trump media personality.
“The leadership is focused with targeting the President’s perceived enemies than they are with defending our national security,” he expressed in his departure note to colleagues.
“Justice for Americans killed and injured by our enemies should not be subject to what someone in the Department of Justice reads in their online content that day.”
