Justice Department Indicts New York Attorney General Letitia James on Two Fraud Counts

On October 9, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on one count of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1344 and one count of making false statements to a financial institution under 18 U.S.C. 1014. Each count carried a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The indictment was announced by Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. attorney installed in the district weeks earlier, who said in the office's release that "no one is above the law" and that the charges "represent intentional, criminal acts." James had brought the New York civil fraud case against Trump and his company; Trump had publicly called for her prosecution.

The case placed a sitting state attorney general who had litigated against the president under federal indictment brought by a U.S. attorney he had personally selected, raising the question of whether federal charging decisions were tracking the president's stated grievances.

James pleaded not guilty. On November 24, 2025, a federal judge dismissed the indictment, along with the parallel indictment of James Comey, after finding that Halligan's appointment as U.S. attorney was invalid.