NY attorney general’s lawyer urges Justice Dept. to reject Trump official’s call for criminal probe
NY attorney general’s lawyer urges Justice Dept. to reject Trump official’s call for criminal probe
NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday urged the Justice Department to refuse a Trump administration official’s request to prosecute the Democrat for mortgage fraud, calling it “improper political retribution.”
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, also offered evidence that the central accusation against James — that she had falsely told a lenders she intended to use a house in Virginia as her primary residence — is easily disproven by records and correspondence related to the real estate transaction.
Any criminal investigation would be part of the Republican administration’s “all-too-familiar playbook” of exacting revenge against longtime legal foes, wrote Lowell, a prominent white-collar defense lawyer who has represented Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Hunter Biden.
“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 wrote.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, whose agency regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, sent a letter to Bondi on April 14, asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging that on multiple occasions she had “falsified bank documents and property records.” He cited “media reports” claiming that James had falsely listed a home in Virginia as her principal residence, and he suggested that she may have been trying to avoid higher interest rates that often apply to mortgages on second homes.
Records show that James was listed as a co-borrower on a house being purchased by her niece.
Days later, Trump homeland security advisor and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller proclaimed to reporters that James was guilty of “multiple, significant, serial criminal violations.”
Lowell, in his letter, said Pulte had “cherry-picked” evidence to promote baseless suspicions about James, who has sued Trump and his administration dozens of times and last year won a $454 million judgment against him in a lawsuit claiming he had lied about the value of his assets on financial statements given to banks. Trump is appealing that verdict.
In seeking a criminal investigation, Pulte cited a two-page power-of-attorney form that James signed on Aug. 17, 2023, which states, “I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence.”
The form gave James’ niece, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, the authority to sign documents on her behalf in connection with the purchase of the home in Norfolk, Virginia. Those forms are required when a person involved in buying a house can’t be present for the closing.
Lowell told Bondi that while the power-of-attorney form “mistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James’ principal residence,” James had been clear about her plans, sending an email to her mortgage loan broker two weeks earlier making clear that the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.”
“It will be Shamice’s primary residence,” James wrote in the email.
The broker replied by acknowledging the “property will be occupied as a primary residence for Shamice” and that James’ declaration “is marked as a non-occupying co-borrower.”
Lowell attached the emails and other records to his six-page letter to Bondi. That evidence, which he said was omitted from Pulte’s criminal referral, “refute the allegations of impropriety or make clear that a mistake on one line had no significance,” he told Bondi.
Lowell explained that Thompson-Hairston had needed financial support and that James was assisting her with the down payment on the Norfolk home. The mortgage application required only one individual to live at the property, he said.
Days after Pulte wrote to Bondi, James’ office shared a partial copy of a loan application in which she also disclosed that she didn’t intend to live in Virginia. On the application, James was asked the question, “Will you occupy the property as your primary residence?” She checked the box that said “no.”
Trump’s allies seized on the Norfolk transaction after Sam E. Antar, a white-collar fraudster turned consultant and investigator, posted about it on his website on April 1. Republican operative Roger Stone then amplified Antar’s findings on social media. Trump wrote on Truth Social on April 13, a day before Plute’s letter, that James should resign immediately.
Lowell argued to Bondi that Pulte’s letter was “seeking to revive baseless allegations.”
“We would expect a quick response confirming that this referral matter has been closed,” he concluded.
By MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press
