A grand jury on Thursday indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James, a target of President Donald Trump.
Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, presented the case, The Guardian reported. The indictment lists one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution regarding two homes James owned, one in Brooklyn and the other in Nortfolk, VA.
Trump had demanded that his Justice Department prosecute James. He called her “SCUM” in a Truth Social post last week, and in a Sept. 20 post that was intended as a private message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump complained that “nothing is being done” about James, California Sen. Adam Schiff and former FBI Director James Comey.
James, in a video released Thursday afternoon, said the charges were “baseless,” and that the indictment was “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
When reached for comment, the Justice Department referred the Daily Beast to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s brief statement on X—“One tier of justice for all Americans”—as well as a statement from Halligan.
“No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” Halligan said. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”
James’ case has been assigned to Biden-appointee U.S. District Judge Jamar K. Walker, Virginia’s first openly gay federal judge.
Trump appointed Halligan to the role after prosecutors like Elizabeth Yusi said they would refuse the president’s pressure to punish his perceived political rivals like James, who had secured a massive civil fraud verdict against Trump while he was out of office.
Late last month, Halligan also brought charges against Comey for allegedly making a false statement to Congress and obstruction. Halligan ended up presenting that case to the grand jury herself, too, since seasoned prosecutors resisting bringing charges. As that case moves forward, Halligan has had to bring in outside prosecutors.
Comey pleaded not guilty, and is seeking to have the case tossed as an instance of prosecutorial revenge orchestrated by Trump.
Prior to her appointment, Halligan had no prosecutorial experience. A former Miss Colorado USA beauty pageant contestant, the 36-year-old was a personal attorney to Trump while he was out of office. From January until September, Halligan was a special assistant to the president and a White House staff secretary.
