BREAKING: Grand jury indicts NY AG Letitia James on bank fraud charge [She responds]

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From Fox News: A federal grand jury in Virginia has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on a bank fraud charge.

The grand jury was meeting in the Eastern District of Virginia court to weigh the charges on Thursday, sources confirmed to Fox News.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department opened an investigation into James for alleged mortgage fraud. James successfully won a civil case last year against President Donald Trump and his Trump Organization over allegations of faulty business practices.

In a letter, Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte alleged that James could have engaged in mortgage fraud by making false or misleading statements on property records, like a loan application that said her property in Virginia is her primary residence, a building record stating her multifamily Brooklyn property incorrectly has five residences instead of four, and a mortgage application that falsely stated James was her father’s spouse.

U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan is the prosecutor who obtained the indictment against James. Halligan, the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, also personally presented the evidence in former FBI Director James Comey’s case.

A press release by the Justice Department reads:

Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced today that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging New York State Attorney General Letitia James with Bank Fraud under 18 U.S.C. Section 1344 and False Statements to a Financial Institution under 18 U.S.C. Section 1014.

“No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” said U.S. Attorney Halligan. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”

If convicted, Letitia James faces penalties including up to 30 years in prison per count, up to a $1 million fine on each count, and forfeiture. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

James ran for office as the New York Attorney General on the campaign promise that she would “get Trump.”

James is well known for repeatedly filing lawsuits against President Donald Trump, and his administration, and often sneers, “No one is above the law.”

Upon learning the news of her indictment, Alex Bruesewitz threw up one of James’s old X posts, in which she claimed, “When powerful people cheat to get better loans, it comes at the expense of hardworking people. Everyday Americans cannot lie to a bank to get a mortgage, and if they did, our government would throw the book at them. There simply cannot be different rules for different people.”

James just released a defiant video statement denouncing the charges against her.

“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. I am not fearful — I am fearless. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights,” she fumed.

In the video, she claimed that Trump is “forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the NY State Attorney General.”

WATCH:

Fraud investigator Sam Antar had initially exposed the potential evidence of mortgage fraud against James.

Upon learning of her indictment Thursday, Antar wrote, “Thank you to all my followers and friends for your unwavering support. Regarding reports that Letitia James has been indicted, I’ll continue relying on official filings and verified sources, not political spin. Whether or not anyone applied “pressure” is irrelevant — what matters is the evidence, and the record we’ve built speaks for itself.”

ABC News reacts:

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