A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has sent out subpoenas related to real estate transactions made by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, related to an ongoing investigation by federal authorities, according to the Washington Post.
This follows an April 14 letter sent by U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, who citing media reports, encouraged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to investigate James over “falsified bank and property documents, and misrepresenting property descriptions” all to get better mortgage rates through FHFA and its subsidiaries.
At the front of the allegations is a 2023 purchase of a home in Norfolk, Virginia which was listed as a “principal residence” of James, despite here holding statewide office in New York. Lenders typically give better interest rates when a property is listed as a principal residence, as there is more of a guarantee the homeowner will pay back the loan.
James is also accused of improperly listing a five-unit complex in Brooklyn as a four-unit, with Pulte alleging it was to qualify for a certain type of loan that maxes out at four-unit properties.
The lawyer for James, Abbe Lowell, has represented many prominent members of both major political parties. His list of past clients includes Hunter Biden, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Jim Gibbons and John Edwards.
Lowell sent a reply letter to Bondi, saying allegations made by Trump officials are political “retribution,” in retaliation of James’ high-profile investigations into the president himself.
“During the 2024 campaign for president and since taking office, President Trump has made clear that he will use the power of the Executive Branch to seek revenge on those he deems to have done him wrong or been his perceived enemies,” wrote Lowell.
He also pushed back against many of the allegations, chalking them up to clerical errors he said have long been corrected. That included a mortgage document from the 1980s that listed James and her father as husband and wife.
“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 said. “This so-called “Criminal Referral,” which recycles long-disproven allegations and is “[b]ased on media reports” lacks any credible foundation.”
As for the Norfolk property, Lowell said the reason it was listed as a primary residence was because James’ niece, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, was using it as her primary residence.
“The mortgage application required only one individual to live at the property. Director Pulte cherry-picked an August 17, 2023 power of attorney that mistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James’ principal residence,” wrote Lowell. “At the same time [Pulte] absolutely ignored her very clear and all caps statement two weeks earlier to the mortgage loan broker that “[t]his property WILL NOT be my primary residence[.] It will be Shamice’s primary residence.”
Since President Trump took office in January, James has joined many other Democratic attorney’s general in lawsuits against Trump’s cutting of federal funding and agencies. The most recent, just filed on May 5, is a challenge to what they call a “unconstitutional dismantling” of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
