Trump Officials ‘Pressuring’ Federal Prosecutors to Charge NY AG Letitia James for Mortgage Fraud: ABC Report

President Donald Trump’s top officials are exerting pressure on federal prosecutors to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud — and Trump himself has turned up the heat on DOJ leadership to bring a case — according to a new report from ABC News.

The report — from ABC News correspondents Peter Charalambous, Katherine Faulders, and Alexander Mallin — indicates that the officials want to charge James, whom Trump has long regarded as a political enemy, despite a 5-month investigation having uncovered “no clear evidence” that the New York attorney general committed mortgage fraud.

Two top DOJ officials — Ed Martin, who leads the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, and Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — have pushed the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to bring a case.

They want the U.S. attorney to Virginia to formally allege that James knowingly made false statements to a financial institution to secure favorable terms on a mortgage for her Virginia home.

James has been accused of falsely claiming the Virginia home as her primary residence in 2023 — despite being required under New York law to live in the state while serving as its attorney general.

The formal FBI criminal investigation into James was announced back in May. At the time, U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III said, “We stand prepared to act in the capacity that we need to when and if we are informed there’s a charge to be made. Unlike Letitia James, who unethically ran around the state campaigning on getting Donald Trump… my office conducts itself in a manner that is proper and professional.”

James brought a civil case against Trump that resulted in the president being ordered to pay $354 million, in 2024, after a judge found Trump committed fraud by overstating his own wealth to lenders and insurers — a figure that rose to $515 million with interest.

But in August, a New York appeals court found that figure “excessive” and threw it out.

Trump has repeatedly attacked James on Truth Social and elsewhere — calling her a “wacky crook” and “totally corrupt,” among other insults.

Attorney Abbe Lowell, who is representing James, told ABC News, “Given the cascade of unsubstantiated allegations coming from the Trump Administration on its ‘mortgage fraud’ crusade against Democrats, it’s no surprise they are having trouble finding an objective and law-abiding prosecutor who would ignore the facts and the evidence to manufacture sham charges. As we have repeatedly said, any impartial and non-political inquiry would conclude Attorney General James did not violate any laws managing her properties.”

The comment about a mortgage fraud crusade against Democrats was seemingly a reference to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — who Trump is trying to fire on the basis of alleged mortgage fraud — and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who Trump has also publicly accused of the crime.

The White House, DOJ, and Federal Housing Agency all declined to comment to ABC News.

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