Department of Justice opens criminal investigation into NY AG Letitia James

The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, Fox News has learned.

Separately, the Washington Post reported that a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia sent out subpoenas related to accusations that James misrepresented a single-family home in Virginia as her primary residence to obtain more favorable loan terms.

The DOJ and FBI declined to comment on the matter.

News of the federal probe follows a criminal referral from the Trump administration’s Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, who requested the DOJ investigate James over that matter and another incident in which she allegedly misrepresented the number of livable units in a multifamily Brooklyn house to once again obtain better loan terms. 

TAXPAYERS COULD BE FORCED TO FUND TRUMP FOE LETITIA JAMES’ LEGAL DEFENSE IF DEM BUDGET ITEM PASSES

“These baseless and long-discredited allegations, put to rest by my April 24 letter to the Department of Justice, are suddenly back in the news just days after President Trump publicly attacked Attorney General James,” James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, said Thursday. 

“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.”

After Pulte’s criminal referral was sent to the Justice Department, specifically U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Lowell followed up with his own letter to Bondi and the Justice Department, accusing the president of seeking “political retribution.” 

James has been part of a group of Democratic attorneys general who have sued to halt many of Trump’s orders during his first few months in the Oval Office. 

Additionally, James was the lead prosecutor in a case she brought against Trump and the Trump Organization that alleged the president, while he was a candidate, falsified business records to obtain more favorable loan terms. He was ultimately ordered by a judge to pay hundreds of millions, but is still appealing the ruling.

NY AG’S OFFICE HIRES ATTORNEY THAT REPPED HUNTER BIDEN TO DEFEND LETITIA JAMES AGAINST FRAUD ACCUSATIONS

“The stunning hypocrisy of President Trump’s complaint that the Justice Department had been ‘politicized’ and ‘weaponized’ against him is laid bare as he and others in his administration are now asking you to undertake the very same practice,” Lowell wrote in his letter to Bondi.

Lowell, in his letter, pointed to instances when Trump has called for revenge and instances when the president has personally attacked James. 

ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST LETITIA JAMES CALLS FOR NY STATE COURTS TO INVESTIGATE TRUMP ADMIN FRAUD CLAIMS

Lowell also responded to the allegations, including the claim James listed a home in Virginia as her primary residence while serving as a state official in New York. According to Lowell, James had no intention of using the property as a primary residence, and her indication of this in a power-of-attorney letter was a mistake. Lowell pointed out there were other documents in which James indicated to her lender that the Virginia home would not be her primary residence. 

James is also accused of fraud for allegedly misrepresenting the number of livable units in a multifamily Brooklyn home to receive better interest rates. Lowell accuses Pulte of disregarding updated documentation listing the residence as a four-unit multifamily residence and instead pointing to a certificate of occupancy from 2001. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated to clarify that The Washington Post reported the issuing of subpoenas by the Eastern District of Virginia.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.