New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawyers accused the Trump administration of “outrageous government conduct” on Monday, arguing the fraud charges against her were “patently unconstitutional” and intended to punish James for her opposition to President Trump.
James is asking a judge to toss out her indictment with prejudice, meaning it could not be reintroduced. She was charged in October with bank fraud, with prosecutors accusing James — a longtime foe of Mr. Trump who sued him in civil court for fraud, which he has denied — of buying a home in Virginia and falsely calling it a second home instead of a rental property in order to get a lower interest rate.
In a 22-page filing Monday, James alleged the charges were the product of “months of illegal and unethical behavior” by Fair Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, top Justice Department official Ed Martin and interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.
“If this brazen, continuous disregard for the law and the Constitution is not outrageous government conduct, nothing is,” James’ lawyers wrote. They called her indictment a violation of the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees a right to due process.
CBS News has reached out to FHFA and the Justice Department for comment.
Bill Pulte
The mortgage fraud investigation into James began after Pulte, whose agency oversees the government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, referred her for prosecution earlier this year, citing several instances of alleged mortgage fraud.
James’ lawyers alleged Monday that Pulte “transformed the little-known agency into a weapon to be brandished against President Trump’s political enemies.”
They pointed to messages between two Fannie Mae officials, including the director of mortgage fraud and the vice president of financial crimes, in which one says “the [James] case is certainly not clear and convincing evidence” of mortgage fraud.
Her legal team also called the origins of the James probe “suspect,” claiming Pulte may have relied on either a “fringe blogger,” records in county databases that he bought or Fannie Mae loan files that were “unlawfully accessed.”
According to James’ legal team, Pulte sent a private letter to Halligan, a former White House aide who is leading the prosecutions of James and former FBI Director James Comey, summarizing information on James’ properties. That information, they say, was then used in part in James’ grand jury proceedings.
Pulte, a vocal Trump ally, has also referred Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, Federal Reserve Board Member Lisa Cook and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution for allegedly committing mortgage fraud.
James’ legal team claims Pulte is operating in his role illegally because he appointed himself chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after removing their board members, and is simultaneously in charge of the organization that oversees them, the FHFA. The agency’s regulations require Fannie and Freddie to have independent chairs, the filing says.
“As FHFA Director, Pulte is the furthest thing from independent,” James’ lawyers said.
Ed Martin
In its filing Monday, James’ legal team questioned the role of Martin, who is the U.S. Pardon Attorney and special attorney for mortgage fraud at the Justice Department. They said Martin “has engaged in a well-documented series of actions that cannot be described as anything but outrageous.”
In August, Martin sent a letter to James’ office in New York that insisted she “resign from office,” James’ attorneys allege, to “give the people of New York and America more peace than proceeding.”
“The letter was not an attempt to investigate the facts, nor did it hide his plain intention to pressure the sitting Attorney General of New York to resign from office or face criminal prosecution,” James’ lawyers wrote, adding that “the letter, by itself, violated Justice Department rules, the Principles of Federal Prosecution, and various codes of professional responsibility and ethics.”
Days later, Martin was photographed in front of James’ Brooklyn home “adorned in an Inspector Gadget-inspired beige trenchcoat,” which James’ lawyers say was intended to “intimidate” the New York attorney general.
Lindsey Halligan
The filing Monday also takes aim at Halligan, who was appointed to lead the Justice Department’s outpost in the Eastern District of Virginia in September, after the resignation of Erik Siebert. Shortly before Halligan took office, Mr. Trump penned a Truth Social message urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into Comey and James.
Last week, lawyers for James and Comey faced off against the Justice Department before a federal judge, arguing that the indictments Halligan has handed should be dismissed because her appointment is unlawful.
Both Comey and James are also arguing that their indictments are “vindictive prosecutions,” driven by Mr. Trump’s longstanding personal animus toward both.
James sued Mr. Trump and his company for fraud in 2022, alleging they misrepresented the value of their properties to get more favorable lending terms. A judge sided with James and ordered Mr. Trump and the other defendants to pay more than $350 million, plus interest, but a New York appellate court threw out the dollar figure earlier this year, calling it “excessive.” Mr. Trump has long denied any wrongdoing in the civil fraud case.
Comey, meanwhile, has publicly sparred with Mr. Trump since the president fired him as FBI director during his first term.
James’ lawyers in Monday’s filing wrote that administration officials “intend to punish AG James for daring to take a stand against the President—both in this Court and by making the investigation of her so public and intrusive that the pre-trial process itself serves as punishment.”
Letitia James
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