New York Attorney General Letitia James has become the focal point of the tempest. President Donald Trump is intensifying his public call to dump her. Just last month, Trump appointed Bill Pulte to run the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He is alleging that James may have committed mortgage fraud in connection with a home in Norfolk, Virginia where her niece resides.
James’ investigations and communications have raised allegations during the increased tension between Trump and James. For years now, James has been on the front lines, liberally blasting the former president. Pulte’s allegations suggest that James lied about the property being her primary home to obtain a lower loan rate typically associated with primary residences. These charges were adamantly denied by James’s attorney, Abbe Lowell.
Lowell emphasized in her testimony that Letitia James made unequivocal, direct statements to her mortgage broker that “This house IS NOT going to be my primary residence. This assertion denies any allegations of unlawful conduct. This statement lies at the heart of all discussions around the legality of the loan origination process at issue.
With tensions rising, President Trump took to Twitter to vent his anger this weekend. He called James “SCUM” and called for her to be removed from office. This kind of resentment reveals a longstanding animosity between the two. It originates from James’s landmark, earlier lawsuit against Trump, in which she accused him of widespread business fraud.
The recent ruling underscored that Trump and his company systematically engaged in business-related fraud. Both the intermediate appellate court and the state Supreme Court deferred to the trial court judge’s findings. The court dismissed a $500 million penalty against them, a ruling that James is appealing as we speak.
Trump and his allies Harlem Globetrotters-style are turning up the intimidatory pressure, calling on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to lay criminal charges against James. Elizabeth Yusi, one of the top federal prosecutors in Virginia, is refusing to cave to these demands. Yusi’s dedication to ensuring a fair legal process runs deep. This commitment underscores the difficulty of the task ahead and the potential ramifications for James and Trump alike.
Now that the legal fight is playing out, Letitia James still refuses to admit that she did wrong. She has dismissed all allegations of any wrongdoing or fraudulent conduct, but continues to focus Attorney General Office’s efforts on state and local community needs.