Federal grand jurors declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James A US official said on Thursday, marking another blow to the government’s case after the judge He tossed it Bank fraud charges brought by the Department of Justice against Trump’s opponent last week.
The grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, voted to reject the indictment after federal prosecutors submitted it, the official said.
Last week a judge Charges dropped against James and former FBI Director James Comey based on that Lindsey HalliganThe top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia was improperly appointed to her position. The judge gave the government the opportunity to recharge them.
It is very rare for a grand jury to refuse to indict people.
Federal prosecutors investigated more than 150,000 people in fiscal year 2016, and in only six cases did they report charges not being brought because the grand jury voted to dismiss the indictment, according to Ministry of Justice numbers.
James thanked the grand jury in a statement Thursday, writing: “As I have said from the beginning, the charges against me are baseless. It is time to stop this rampant weaponization of our justice system.”
The New York prosecutor initially charged him in October with bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. The Department of Justice accused James of falsely claiming in mortgage documents that the home she purchased in 2020 in Norfolk, Virginia, would serve as her second home, when in fact she had rented it and used it as an investment property. The government claims that it was able to obtain a more favorable interest rate by calling it a second home.
James denied any wrongdoing and said the Trump administration was targeting her for political reasons. Between Trump’s two terms in the White House, James filed a lawsuit against him in civil court on charges of lying about the value of his real estate assets.
In 2023, a judge ruled against Mr. Trump, his family and his company She “repeatedly” violated the fraud statute And impose a Nine-digit rule Against them In this case Brought by James. Court of Appeal Financial penalties were dropped Earlier this year, he described it as “excessive”. The appeals judges were divided on the merits of the case and did not impose some non-monetary sanctions, including restrictions on the Trump Organization.
James’s lawyers She argued that the case against her should be dismissed Due to retaliatory prosecution and “egregious government behavior.” They argued that the charges stemmed from Mr. Trump’s animosity toward James — pointing to a Social Truth post in which the president urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into them — and were the product of “unethical conduct” by multiple officials at the Justice Department and the Fair Housing Finance Authority.
Halligan’s office sought charges against Comey and James following the unrest at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Her predecessor as prosecutor in the office, Eric Seibert, resigned in late September amid concerns among staff that he would be forced to resign for refusing to charge James. CBS News reported this earlier. Days later, so was Halligan — a former White House staffer and Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer He took the oath As a temporary US attorney. Comey was indicted less than a week later, and James was indicted a few weeks later.
Both Comey and James argued that Halligan was not legally appointed for her role, and asked for the charges against them to be dropped. U.S. District Judge Cameron Corey Their indictments were dismissed Without prejudice, which means the government may try to charge them again.
It is unclear whether the Justice Department will also try to recharge Comey for allegedly lying to Congress in 2020 since the statute of limitations for those charges expired in late September. Federal law gives the government a six-month extension when dismissing indictments after the statute of limitations for a case expires, but Corey She wrote in her order The law may not apply in the Comey case because the indictment may not have been valid to begin with.