What happened
President Donald Trump’s acting U.S. attorney in Virginia Thursday secured a grand jury indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on felony bank fraud and false statement charges.
The indictment came two weeks after the same prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, indicted former FBI Director James Comey and three weeks after Trump publicly urged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute James and Comey and fired Halligan’s predecessor for declining to pursue charges.
Who said what
The five-page indictment accused James of “falsely claiming in loan documents that she would use a home she purchased” in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020 “as a secondary residence,” The New York Times said, “and using it instead as a rental investment property, allowing her to receive favorable terms that would save her close to $19,000” over the life of the loan. Halligan “presented the case” to the grand jury herself, The Washington Post said, an “unusual” move “suggesting that the office struggled to find a career attorney willing to take on the assignment.”
James, who secured a civil fraud judgment against Trump in 2023, said in a statement that the charges against her were “baseless” and Trump’s “own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost.” Halligan said the charges “represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.” Lawyer and podcast host Ken “Popehat” White said on social media he had “never seen anything remotely this petty charged as bank fraud.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
James was not arrested but has been summoned to appear in federal court in Norfolk on Oct. 24. Her case was randomly assigned to U.S. District Judge Jamar Walker, a Joe Biden appointee.
-
Will there be peace before Christmas in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Discussions over the weekend could see a unified set of proposals from EU, UK and US to present to Moscow
-
Quiz of The Week: 6 – 12 DecemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A man's best friend, the elephants in the room, and more
-
What role will Trump play in the battle over Warner Bros. Discovery?Today’s Big Question Netflix and Paramount fight for the president’s approval
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
-
The Trump administration says it deports dangerous criminals. ICE data tells a different story.IN THE SPOTLIGHT Arrest data points to an inconvenient truth for the White House’s ongoing deportation agenda
-
Ex-FBI agents sue Patel over protest firingspeed read The former FBI agents were fired for kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest for ‘apolitical tactical reasons’
