New York Attorney General Letitia James lashed out at the Trump Administration and claimed the criminal probe into her business dealings is an overreaction to “mistakes” during a recent speaking event.
James is accused of listing a Virginia property she purchased in 2023 as her “principal residence” despite serving as attorney general of New York at the time. New York requires its attorneys general to live in the state for five years before running for office, and requires them to reside there during their time in office.
A criminal referral sent by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte further alleged that James previously purchased a Brooklyn home in 2001, but has “consistently misrepresented the same property as only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications,” Pulte noted. This could have allowed James to receive a lower mortgage rate and led to lower payments under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
James has hired high-powered attorney Abbe Lowell — whose hefty price tag will likely be paid by New York taxpayers — in order to defend herself against the allegations.
During a recent speaking event, James claimed that she made simple “mistakes” when falsely listing her principal residence.
“This investigation, to me, is nothing more than retribution. It’s baseless. It has to do with the fact that on a power of attorney, mistakenly indicated that I was a state of Virginia,” the Empire State’s top lawyer claimed. “But prior to that I had indicated to the mortgage broker that in fact, in bold cap letters, that I am not a resident of Virginia and never will be.”
James also addressed allegations surrounding the mortgage application by once again blaming “mistakes.”
“And in the mortgage application, I indicated that I would not live in Virginia and I was not a resident. They just took the power of attorney and they’re using that as a basis for enforcement, for their investigation, when in reality, the power of attorney was never used to determine my eligibility for a mortgage for my niece for a home in the state of Virginia.”
James further described herself as a “good aunt” who simply wanted to secure a home for her niece.
The legal defense employed by James was ironically denied to President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization when James’ office pursued a dubious civil fraud case against them. The case, which is currently being appealed, resulted in a judgement against the organization north of $400 million.
“So the karma is crushing here. But the greatest irony, of course, is to hear her counsel and her spokesperson say ‘This is just wrong because Trump campaigned on moving against his enemies.’ For those of us who have covered this litigation for years, having those words come out of the mouths of James’ staff really is breathtaking,” George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News when reacting to James’ defense.
Turley went on to note a number of contradictions in James’ legal defense and said her legal team is now arguing that discrepancies in documents, such as questions about her primary residence and an allegation that she misrepresented the number of units in a building, should be dismissed due to unintended error or miscommunication.
“That’s a type of understanding and leeway that she refused to allow to Donald Trump. She insisted that everything that was signed in her name, and it was signed in his name, I should say, really are bound legally to him,” he said. “And so they said you have an obligation to make sure everything filed was absolutely accurate.”
When asked about the recent state budget proposal that would allow her to access up to $10 million from a legal defense slush fund, the attorney general claimed it is nothing out of the ordinary.
“So you know, the Public Officers Law has been in existence for a long time, and public officers law has reimbursed a number of individuals, including law enforcement, including a wide number of stakeholders. And so it’s nothing new,” James told CBS 6 Albany.
