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Letitia James (Video screenshot)

Letitia James (Video screenshot)
Letitia James, who has brought lawfare cases against President Trump

Letitia James, the New York attorney general who campaigned on a platform to “get” President Donald Trump, then worked with a leftist judge to decide on a $500 million “fraud” penalty that turned out to be unconstitutional, now has been indicted herself.

The charge comes from a federal grand jury in Virginia and names her on a count of bank fraud.

She already had been under investigation by the Department of Justice over allegations she lied on federal forms to get better interest rates on mortgages.

James won a civil case last year against President Donald Trump and his Trump Organization over her claims of faulty business dealings, but the $500 million penalty created by Arthur Engoron, the New York judge in the case, and James was found to be unconstitutional and thrown out.

Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte had alleged that James may have committed mortgage fraud by making false or misleading statements on property records, “like a loan application that said her property in Virginia is her primary residence, a building record stating her multifamily Brooklyn property incorrectly has five residences instead of four, and a mortgage application that falsely stated James was her father’s spouse,” Fox News reported.

It was U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, appointed by Trump after her predecessor, who returned the indictment.

WND has reported that the mortgage fraud allegations aren’t the only problem for James.

It’s minor, but it’s still a problem that was cited. It’s that the height of a fence at a five-unit apartment structure she owns in Brooklyn.

It’s the same address that triggered a federal mortgage fraud investigation into her, as she obtained an interest rate on a mortgage for the property that was based on it having four units, when it actually has five, according to building records.

The Washington Examiner said James could face $500 in fines because the fence at the brownstone is five feet, five inches tall, beyond the 48-inch limit.

The New York Department of Buildings served James with a violation notice recently that deemed her front fence exceeded height limitations.

It was James who, after campaigning to “get” Trump, came up with a claim that his business operations committed fraud. She worked with Engoron on the case, which alleged that there was fraud even though the business entities that supposedly were victimized said their loans were repaid on time and in full, and they would like to do more business with Trump.

Despite the lack of evidence, the judge created a penalty for Trump and his businesses of almost half a billion dollars, a decision that subsequently was tossed by an appeals court ruling that said it violated the U.S. Constitution.

Further, WND reported that constitutional expert Jonathan Turley revealed that James may not be done losing to Trump.

A New York appeals court ruled that the civil penalty issued by Engoron in February 2024 violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against excessive fines. Turley told “Faulkner Focus” guest host Aishah Hasnie that while the ruling was a “tremendous victory” for Trump, more wins could be coming for the president.

“This is obviously a tremendous victory for President Trump, but it’s long overdue. During this litigation, many of us described this entire effort as a grotesque use of this New York law. No one lost money in this case. The banks actually wanted more business from President Trump,” Turley said. “No one had ever seen an effort like this. It was an effort by Letitia James to have a trophy win against Trump and what this opinion has done is reduce what was a mounted marlin to something of a guppy. It has removed the fine and left in place the injunctive relief that President Trump can now appeal. So, it is possible that even that could go to the wayside.”

WATCH:

“The good news is really for the New York court system. This regains some of the credibility that was lost during this process,” Turley continued. “Many of us stood there in disbelief that James was allowed to do this. She succeeded in securing or she was fortunate enough to secure a very favorable judge, Judge Engoron, and I want to note, by the way, that both the judge and James tried to effectively price Trump out of even appealing the case. They insisted that he would have to pony up half a billion dollars just to question what they did in the case and it was an outrageous effort to effectively price out an appeal. It didn’t work. Now we can see that the appellate court said this should never have happened in terms of the fine.”

James sued Trump in September 2022, alleging he overstated the value of real estate holdings to obtain loans after vowing to investigate Trump during her initial campaign for attorney general in 2018, during which she labeled him an “illegitimate president.” Turley said the appeals court ruling would also calm businesses in the state.

“There are still legitimate questions here with regard to the injunctive relief,” Turley told Hasnie. “The court obviously fractured on these issues. The good news for New Yorkers is that the court of appeals really sent a message to the business community, the legal community, that they are not going to allow raw lawfare.”

It was U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed DOJ official Ed Martin as special prosecutor to investigate James over allegations of mortgage fraud.

Late Thursday, James posted a video saying the indictment is “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”