Another day another lawsuit takes center stage in Washington as New York Attorney General Letitia James entered a not guilty plea to federal mortgage fraud charges brought by Lindsey Halligan, a Trump loyalist and former personal attorney with no prior experience as a prosecutor.
Halligan was recently appointed to lead the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. Attorney’s Office and filed the indictment after several career prosecutors reportedly objected to pursuing the case. The same office also charged former FBI Director James Comey, who entered his own not guilty plea earlier this month.
The indictment accuses James of committing bank fraud and making false statements connected to a mortgage on a Virginia property, claiming she gained a total of just under nineteen thousand dollars over the life of the loan. Legal experts have already raised questions about whether these prosecutions represent selective or politically motivated actions driven by Trump’s public demands for criminal charges against his critics.
James, who famously led the New York state civil fraud case that resulted in massive financial penalties against Trump, has dismissed the new charges as “baseless,” stating that the case is pure political retaliation. She is also preparing to challenge the legality of Halligan’s appointment and has filed a motion seeking to limit what she calls improper disclosures by the prosecution.
Her legal team cited a report showing that Halligan privately commented on the strength of evidence presented to the grand jury, calling the exchange a violation of multiple federal and ethical standards. “Such statements by any prosecutor, let alone one claiming to be the U.S. Attorney, undermine the integrity of the process,” James’ lawyers wrote.
The civil case that initially placed James in Trump’s crosshairs continues its appeal process in New York’s top court, while this new criminal case threatens to ignite another legal and political showdown between the two adversaries.