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Federal Grand Jury Declines to Indict NY AG Letitia James, Marking Third Failed DOJ Attempt Amid Trump Pressure
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a federal law enforcement source and another individual familiar with the matter. This marks the third unsuccessful attempt by the Justice Department to prosecute James, following a months-long pressure campaign from former President Donald Trump.
Last month, a federal judge dismissed mortgage-related charges against James, as well as unrelated charges against former FBI Director James Comey. The judge ruled that the prosecutor in both cases, Lindsey Halligan, who was named interim U.S. attorney for the District of Virginia by President Trump, was unlawfully appointed.
Just last week, the Justice Department made another attempt to secure an indictment against James in Norfolk, Virginia, which also proved unsuccessful.
The Justice Department has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding these developments.
Abbe Lowell, counsel for Attorney General James, released a statement asserting, “For the second time in seven days, the Department of Justice has failed in its clear attempt to fulfill President Trump’s political vendetta against Attorney General James. This unprecedented rejection makes even clearer that this case should never have seen the light of day.”
Lowell further added, “This case already has been a stain on this Department’s reputation and raises troubling questions about its integrity. Any further attempt to revive these discredited charges would be a mockery of our system of justice.”
Prior to the initial dismissal of charges, James had pleaded not guilty to allegations concerning a mortgage on a Norfolk home. The Trump administration alleged she saved approximately $50 per month on her mortgage payments by declaring the property as her second residence.
Attorney General James has been a prominent political target for Trump since she initiated an investigation into the Trump Organization for fraud. Her investigation alleged that Trump and other company leaders “reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains” by habitually overvaluing properties to secure favorable bank loans and insurance policies. Trump was ultimately found liable for fraud in the civil suit, though a divided state appeals court upheld the fraud finding but deemed the $464 million judgment “excessive.”
It is considered rare for a federal grand jury to reject charges, as the process typically favors the prosecution. At the grand jury stage, prosecutors only need to convince 12 of at least 16 grand jurors that they have met the probable cause threshold, a considerably lower standard than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” requirement necessary for a conviction at trial. Under established Justice Department practices, federal prosecutors are expected to proceed with a case only if they believe it is likely to result in a conviction at trial.
Notably, the Justice Department brought in out-of-state federal prosecutors to pursue a case against James. Career prosecutors within the Eastern District of Virginia had reportedly concluded that the case against James was too weak to move forward. Furthermore, Trump’s own nominee to lead that office, Erik Siebert, resigned amidst pressure from the former president to bring charges against James.