A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, declined on Thursday to reindict New York Attorney General Letitia James, the second recent rejection in the Justice Department’s effort to pursue charges against her. The refusal follows a similar decision by a grand jury in Norfolk last week.
The attempted indictments stem from allegations that James misrepresented a property she purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020. Prosecutors contended that she listed the home as a second residence to qualify for favorable mortgage terms, though she allegedly rented it out instead, securing potential savings over the life of the loan. James has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
The case originally faced dismissal after U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that Lindsey Halligan, a former White House aide appointed by the Trump administration, had been unlawfully installed as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan had no prior prosecutorial experience, and her appointment followed the removal of Erik Siebert, a career prosecutor who had expressed doubts about the sufficiency of evidence against James and former FBI Director James Comey.
James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, emphasized that the case should never have been pursued, pointing out that “two different grand juries in two different cities have refused to allow these baseless charges to be brought,” and warned that any further attempts to revive the case would undermine the justice system.
James, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, had previously won a civil fraud case against him and his company, which some of the prosecutors’ efforts appeared to target politically. Despite the dismissal of prior charges, the Justice Department remains able to pursue new indictments, though the repeated failures could present significant obstacles.
