For the second time in recent days, a federal grand jury in Virginia has declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on alleged mortgage fraud charges.
The grand jury dismissed the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case following a federal judge’s dismissal of an earlier case over the improper appointment of the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. On Thursday, prosecutors were unable to persuade a majority of jurors in Alexandria, Virginia, to approve charges claiming James misled a bank to secure favorable mortgage terms. This follows a similar decision last week by a grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia.
James’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, described the repeated rejection as “unprecedented” and said it underscores that the case should never have been pursued. He noted that career prosecutors initially refused to bring charges, and now two separate grand juries in different cities have rejected the allegations. Lowell warned that any further attempts to revive the case would “be a mockery of our system of justice.”
The allegations assert that James, who previously filed a civil fraud case against now-President Donald Trump, misrepresented a home she purchased in 2020 as a second home rather than an investment property, allegedly to save approximately $19,000 over the loan’s term through a lower mortgage rate. Investigators found evidence that appeared to weaken key aspects of the indictment, including the extent of any personal profit from the property.
James has consistently denied any wrongdoing.