New York Attorney General Letitia James(D) face criminal charges During the charges he lied about his plans for the Virginia home, allowing him to receive favorable loan terms.
Allegations of real estate fraud against a prominent political figure could set off alarm bells.
James’s sweeping civil fraud case against President Trump and his business empire — the case that put her in his crosshairs — overshadows the charges now filed against the state’s top prosecutor, though its scope is much smaller.
As Trump wants revenge Against his perceived enemies, these parallels could be used to strengthen the President’s efforts to discredit James and undercut critics’ claims of a weaponized justice system against his enemies.
The indictment filed Thursday charges James with two counts of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, focusing on his 2020 purchase and subsequent use of a property in Norfolk, Va.
She is accused of purchasing the home under an agreement that required her to occupy it and use it as a secondary residence, but instead rented it out to a family of three, resulting in better terms that saved her approximately $19,000 over the life of the loan.
When James took Trump to court in Manhattan, it was over civil fraud claims.
They allege in a 2022 lawsuit against him and the Trump Organization that he overstated his net worth for tax and insurance benefits — an attack on the president’s iconic real estate mogul image and billionaire status.
A New York judge found Trump liable for fraud and ordered him to pay a $354.8 million fine, which included ill-gotten gains from loan savings and property sales, which totaled more than $500 million with interest. The appeal court wiped out the fine in August.
Civil fraud carries a lower burden of proof than criminal fraud, which Trump’s Justice Department would have to prove against James.
In criminal cases, the government must show that fraud occurred “beyond a reasonable doubt”, while in civil cases the standard is “preponderance of the evidence”, or more likely, that this is not true.
Proving specific allegations against James is also a challenge, according to Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin. To convict him, prosecutors would have to convince the jury that he not only made false statements but did so knowingly.
“It means she subjectively understood what she was doing,” Levitin said. “This is not what a reasonable person would think – this is what James himself thought. This makes these allegations very difficult to prove.”
James sued Trump under a state law that gives New York broad power to bring claims against businesses that “repeatedly commit fraudulent or illegal acts or otherwise demonstrate persistent fraud or illegality.” He did not need to prove that he intended to deceive anyone.
The indictment against James and James’ complaint against the Trump Organization paint very different pictures of each case, said Will Thomas, a business law professor at the University of Michigan.
James’ complaint was against Trump’s business empire more than 200 pages The “unbelievable account,” he said, “tried to refute the obvious concern that James was playing politics and going after Trump by providing example after example of wrongdoing.”
“The DOJ didn’t feel any need to do that in this case,” Thomas said. 5 page james indictment“And there are some explanations for this.
He added, “First, doesn’t she feel the need to deny it because the president is openly calling for her to be prosecuted?” “The other possible possibility is that they’re not issuing indictments so to speak, because when it really comes down to the facts, they don’t really have anything to say.”
Both Levitin and Thomas said federal cases involving the amount of damages are unusual given the small amount alleged in James’ case – $18,933.
“You don’t start out with this kind of charge,” Thomas said, suggesting that smaller dollar amounts are typically seen when the government loses larger claims or is taking steps to stop “extremely egregious” activity in the beginning.
It is difficult to clearly discern how often federal charges are pursued in similar cases, although the restitution ordered by judges indicates that it is not very high.
In 2024 cases involving fraud, theft or embezzlement, the average amount of restitution ordered by judges was more than $2.2 million, according to Data from the US Sentencing CommissionThe average amount was $155,415.
“I believe you’ll only see a prosecution over something like this if there’s something else going on,” Levitin said. “Now there’s that, right? ‘Something else,’ however, is something that the Justice Department should never have considered, which is that James is a political opponent of the President.”
Trump’s fraud case falls on the other end of the spectrum. Appeals court finds half a billion dollar judgment against him and his business Unconstitutional “excessive” finesHowever, it upheld the lower court’s findings of fraud and other penalties against Trump. Both Trump and James’ office have appealed to the state supreme court.
The President has called James’s case against him a “witch hunt,” but after her impeachment, he defended it as “based on facts and evidence – not politics.”
James called the allegations against him “baseless”, saying, “I stand firmly with my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization.”
James is the first of a handful of Trump’s enemies Targeted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency With criminal references to face charges. She is the second Trump rival to face charges.
Just two weeks ago, FBI Director James Comey was two count hit Stemming from testimony to Congress given in 2020. Trump’s rival of nearly a decade made his first court appearance on Wednesday, where he entered a plea of not guilty And a trial was set for January 5.
The President criticized James as “corrupt” and “scum” on social media Days before charges were handed down, there were calls for her “removal” from the New York Attorney General’s office.
Trump has pressured his Justice Department to prosecute his apparent enemies.
Both cases were brought by Lindsey Halligan, interim U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. A former White House aide with no prosecutorial experience, Halligan was selected by Trump to take over the post from former U.S. attorney Eric Siebert. resigned under pressure Comey was convicted despite insufficient evidence being found to do so.
As of Friday, Halligan was the sole prosecutor in James’ case. She was the sole prosecutor in Comey’s case until the day before his arraignment, when two DOJ lawyers from North Carolina appeared.
In a statement announcing the charges, the interim U.S. attorney called the charges against James a “deliberate, criminal act” and said “no one is above the law.”
“The facts and the law in this case are clear and we will continue to follow them to ensure justice is served,” he said.
Comey’s lawyers indicated Wednesday they will seek to dismiss charges over retaliatory prosecution by Trump’s Justice Department and challenge Halligan’s unusual appointment.
Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond Law School, said James would likely do the same.
“Although it’s difficult to show in many cases, it seems like there’s a pretty strong argument for both of them here,” he said.
