The FBI is opening a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud related to homes she purchased in Virginia and Brooklyn.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office in Albany launched the investigation following a criminal referral to the Justice Department from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The criminal referral from FHFA Director William Pulte alleged that James “falsified records” to obtain loans for her property in Virginia, which she listed as her primary residence in 2023 during her tenure as New York Attorney General.
The referral further alleged that James serially misrepresented the facts about her Brooklyn property on mortgage documents and permit applications since she purchased it in 2001. Additionally, the referral mentions another property James and her father purchased where they falsely label each other husband and wife, an arrangement that comes with tax benefits.
James’s actions could lead to criminal charges including wire fraud, mortgage fraud, bank fraud, and false statements to a financial institution. Her office dismissed the criminal referral, saying she would “not be intimidated by bullies — no matter who they are.”
The FBI investigation was first reported by the Times Union. NR has reached out to James’s office for comment on the FBI investigation. The FBI declined to comment.
“These baseless and long-discredited allegations, put to rest by my April 24th letter to the Department of Justice, are suddenly back in the news just days after President Trump publicly attacked Attorney General James,” said James’s attorney Abbe D. Lowell, a high powered defense lawyer known for his work on behalf of Hunter Biden and disgraced former Senator Bob Menendez (D., N.J.).
“This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch. If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts,” Lowell added.
Lowell’s letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi accuses Trump of pursuing retribution against James and addresses the allegations in the criminal referral. Lowell argued that Pulte’s criminal referral was generated from baseless media reports and fails to include records disproving each of its allegations. The letter includes records omitted from the criminal referral and disputes each of the referral’s allegations related to James’s Virginia and Brooklyn, New York properties.
“Look at the entire file of each event, the haste in which one document has one line filled out in error, and the clear fact that, with the exception of attending school, Attorney General James has only lived
in Brooklyn, and the ‘criminal referral’ becomes three pages of stale, threadbare allegations with
no reason to proceed other than they are ‘[b]ased on media reports’ and are the next salvo in
President Trump’s revenge tour against Attorney General James,” Lowell asserts.
James listed the Virginia property as her primary residence around the time she began her civil fraud trial against the Trump organization for allegedly inflating the value of its properties. James won a $454 million judgement against Trump and taunted him upon doing so. During Trump’s presidential campaign, he frequently accused James of waging lawfare to derail his candidacy after she campaigned on targeting him.
“I can say unrelated to that, she’s a disaster for New York. She’s a horrible, horrible human being, and I think she’s a total crook, there’s no question about it — but that’s just my opinion,” Trump said of James earlier this week.
“Pam’s gonna have to do what she wants,” he added, in reference to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The FBI investigation marks a stunning twist of fate for Trump and James, who previously threatened to seize his properties if he failed to post bond for the civil fraud case. Trump’s legal issues ultimately failed to deter his candidacy, as he won the 2024 presidential election convincingly over former Vice President Kamala Harris.
A star Democratic politician, James was previously New York City public advocate and a member of the New York City council. She became New York Attorney General in 2019 after winning the election to replace disgraced former AG Eric Schneiderman following his resignation over allegations of sexual harassment.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with comment from James’s attorney.