{"id":249717,"date":"2025-10-25T00:41:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T00:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/249717\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T00:41:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T00:41:13","slug":"letitia-james-pleads-not-guilty-to-fraud-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/249717\/","title":{"rendered":"Letitia James Pleads Not Guilty To Fraud Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside a federal courthouse in Virginia on Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/a>\u00a0(D), who successfully prosecuted<\/a> a civil lawsuit against President Donald Trump for defrauding bankers about his net worth so he could secure better loan terms, pleaded not guilty to allegations of bank fraud and making false statements.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot guilty, judge, to both counts,\u201d James said in the courthouse on Friday, according to CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Politics: U.S. Officials Admit Trump Screwup In Attempt To Bring Down James Comey<\/a><\/p>\n

The charges<\/a> against James were brought after the president first publicly demanded<\/a>\u00a0U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi pursue James as well as other longtime Trump critics, including former FBI Director James Comey and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Comey was indicted <\/a>in September and pleaded not guilty; Schiff has not yet been indicted but has been under investigation<\/a> for alleged mortgage fraud by the Trump Justice Department since August. NBC<\/a> reported on Thursday, however, that the investigation into Schiff has stalled and that sources say there simply isn\u2019t enough credible information to prosecute the senator. Another Trump critic\u00a0 \u2014 former national security adviser John Bolton \u2014 was indicted<\/a> on 18 counts earlier this month for alleged retention of classified materials. Bolton pleaded<\/a> not guilty.<\/p>\n

As for James, the charges against her only came after a Trump-appointed prosecutor in Virginia, Erik Siebert, was pushed out<\/a> from his role in September, reportedly because he did not believe<\/a> the case against Comey or James was strong enough. He was replaced with Trump\u2019s onetime personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan<\/a>, who has zero prosecutorial experience<\/a>. So far, it shows: In addition to a profoundly atypical handling of the Comey indictment<\/a> before a grand jury, this week, Halligan exposed herself to renewed scrutiny after she initiated a text message exchange with a legal journalist on Signal that reportedly \u201ctouched on grand jury matters<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a massive no-no <\/a>that could potentially jeopardize the administration\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) speaks outside the Walter E. Hoffman United States Courthouse following an arraignment hearing on Oct. 24 in Norfolk, Virginia. James pled not guilty to two counts related to statements she allegedly made about a second home purchased in 2020. Win McNamee via Getty Images<\/p>\n

James\u2019 not-guilty plea before Judge Jamar Walker, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, came as no surprise. When James was first indicted, she was unequivocal about the case against her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is nothing more than a continuation of the president\u2019s desperate weaponization of our justice system,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so today I am not fearful, I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politics: Trump Pressures ‘All Talk, No Action’ Attorney General To Go After Enemies<\/a><\/p>\n

James reiterated this on Friday in a statement to HuffPost and extended her gratitude to those who have supported her but added: \u201cThis is not about me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about all of us. And about a justice system which has been weaponized. A justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge. This justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge \u2014 and a weapon against those individuals who simply did their job and stood up for the rule of law. And a justice system which unfortunately is being used as a vehicle of retribution,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cBut my faith is strong.\u00a0I have this belief in the justice system and the rule of law. And I have a belief in America and all of its individuals who have stood with me \u2013 not only in New York but all across this nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

James added that she has \u201cheard from just about every jurisdiction in this nation who have said, \u2018Stand up and be tall. Never ever bow down or back down or break or bend.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, there\u2019s no fear today. No fear. No fear. No fear. No fear.\u00a0Because I believe that justice will rain down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Politics: Here\u2019s The Canadian Viral Video That Triggered Trump Into A Full-Blown Meltdown<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the indictment<\/a>, James is accused of lying on a 2020 loan application to receive more favorable mortgage terms for property in Norfolk, Virginia. The Justice Department alleges that she claimed the two-story home would be her secondary residence, but instead rented it to a family member in violation of her original mortgage agreement. (Interest rates are usually lower for second homes versus investment properties and prosecutors say James saved just under $20,000 with the alleged ruse.) The family member is Nakia Thompson, James\u2019 grandniece. Thompson has resided at the home for five years, and according to testimony she gave to a grand jury in Norfolk, while she lived there, James visited occasionally, but she never paid rent to her grand aunt. This alone could blow a huge hole in the government\u2019s claim that James used the home as an investment property.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the arraignment, ABC News<\/a> reported that an internal Justice Department memo about the James probe had determined that whatever benefit she may have received from the allegedly bunk mortgage loan application would have only amounted to $800 in the first year she purchased the home. Federal prosecutors expressed doubt about bringing the charges, the outlet reported, because mortgage guidelines for second residences are already ill-defined. The reported author of the memo, Elizabeth Yusi, was fired by Halligan because she resisted bringing the charges against James.<\/p>\n

\u201cForcing a political opponent to show up in court to defend baseless criminal charges is like something out of Putin\u2019s Russia \u2014 not the America we know and love,\u201d Norm Eisen, the executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, said in a statement Friday. \u201cDonald Trump is destroying the rule of law just like he\u2019s tearing down the East Wing White House. All Americans should speak out about the unjust prosecution of Letitia James.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Walker said he expects a trial for the New York attorney general would last just five days given the simplicity of the case. DOJ lawyers reportedly told the judge they would call eight to 10 witnesses. An attorney for James did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Related…<\/p>\n

Read the original on HuffPost<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside a federal courthouse in Virginia on Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James\u00a0(D), who successfully prosecuted a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[64443,236,88,94487,16675,49710,102404,942],"class_list":["post-249717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-adam-schiff","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-james-comey","tag-justice-department","tag-letitia-james","tag-lindsey-halligan","tag-president-donald-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}