Earlier this year, the Trump administration referred New York Attorney General Letitia James to the Justice Department for mortgage fraud.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has since struggled to get a case together for an indictment, and James has outright denied the allegations made against her.
However, the Trump administration is now using those criminal accusations to shutter the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac offices in the state.
When the referral was given for a potential mortgage fraud case, it took the DOJ about two seconds to put a grand jury together to try to secure an indictment against James.
While we were all hoping that the allegations made were true, prosecutors struggled mightily to secure an indictment.
One senior official stated that “there’s not nearly enough clear and convincing evidence” to get the formal charges Trump wants to see.
If prosecutors are unable to get an indictment, the situation is going to blow up in the face of the administration, as it will feed the narrative that Trump was targeting his political enemies. If Dems retake the House in 2026, this will be yet another bullet in the gun for them to use against Trump in possible impeachment proceedings.
The referral that was made in April stated, "Based on media reports, Ms Letitia James has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government-backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.”
James responded to the allegations, stating, “Let me just say to all New Yorkers and to all Americans: The allegations are baseless. The allegations are nothing more than a revenge tour.”
She continued, “As you know, as any good attorney, I will not litigate this in a camera. It is important that we respond to these allegations at the appropriate time and in an appropriate way.”
As Trump has done in other situations, allegations alone were enough for him to make some bold moves meant to harm James.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Thursday that it was going to close down its New York offices because of James.
The agency stated, "We are shutting down the two New York offices for Fannie and Freddie as a result of Letitia James' corrupt and dangerous business practices in the state.”
The statement continued, "We'll still employ New York residents, and we'll still continue to do mortgage loans in New York, of course. But we are going to eliminate our physical presence. And to the extent that we have leases, we are going to be subleasing those."
This sounds to me like Trump is jumping the gun again, using allegations to make a dramatic move when he really needs to wait, in my opinion, for an indictment, if not a conviction, before doing something so drastic. If prosecutors fail to get an indictment against James, this is going to get ugly, and right now, formal charges seem like wishful thinking.
