Letitia James’ legal jeopardy just went from bad to worse after this announcement
The Federal Housing Administration referred New York Attorney General Letitia James to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
James is in big trouble.
And Letitia James’ legal jeopardy just went from bad to worse after this announcement.
James defends herself against mortgage fraud allegations
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) referred James to the Justice Department for potential mortgage fraud.
In the FHA’s criminal referral, the agency accused James of listing a five unit property as four units and claiming a residence in Virginia as her primary residence when New York law requires to live in state so she could obtain more favorable loan rates.
The FBH also alleged that James listed her father as her husband on two loan applications.
James famously sued Donald Trump in a baseless civil fraud case – where no one lost any money – claiming Trump inflated the value of his assets to receive better loan terms.
Without citing any evidence, James called the allegations against her baseless in an interview with NY1.
“Let me just say to all New Yorkers and to all Americans: The allegations are baseless. The allegations are nothing more than a revenge tour,” James claimed.
James told host Errol Louis that she wouldn’t provide exonerating evidence because she didn’t want to try the case in public.
“As you know, as any good attorney, I will not litigate this case in a camera. It is important that we respond to these allegations at the appropriate time and in an appropriate way,” James added. “I will not go back and forth with respect to these baseless allegations. I am more focused again on standing up for freedom, liberties, and the rule of law in the state of New York.”
James cast the referral as an act of political intimidation and retribution.
“I will not be silenced, I will not be bullied, I will not bend, I will not break, and I will not bow to anyone,” James declared telling Louis, “No one is above the law.”
Speaking on his Sirius XM radio show, trained lawyer and former ABC and NBC News chief legal correspondent Dan Abrams told listeners that the allegations against James were serious and no political fishing expedition.
“When I first heard that the attorney general had been referred, there was a criminal referral made by the director of the federal Housing and Finance Agency, my initial response was, ‘Oh boy, here we go. Trump is just weaponizing the departments and in this case making a reference to the DOJ, and I’m sure this was all nonsense.’ But then I actually read what they were alleging. This is real. This is serious, and I think this could mean big trouble for the attorney general,” Abrams stated.
Abrams nodded to how James tried to defend herself to The New York Times telling the paper that she never intended to use the Virginia property as her primary residence.
But Abrams dismissed her excuses as merely “interesting” and predicted criminal charges in James’ future.
“Her legal defenses are interesting, but I do not see how she does not get charged here,” Abrams added.
“I believe the attorney general of New York is going to get charged by the feds here criminally. I think this is going to be a big deal. I think it is a case that is being under-covered right, even in the right wing media. I’ve been surprised this hasn’t gotten more attention,” Abrams concluded.
