James is a long-time antagonist of Trump, who recently publicly called for criminal charges to be filed against her and former FBI Director James Comey.
The attorney general previously sued Trump in a civil case in New York that led to him and his company being held liable for business fraud.
The indictment issued Thursday accuses James of making false statements in connection with a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae that she obtained to buy a three-bedroom home in Norfolk, Virginia, in August 2020.
James, whose primary residence at the time was in Brooklyn, New York, is accused of lying on a rider to that mortgage, which required her to use the Norfolk home as a secondary residence and not rent the property, according to the indictment.
“No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” said Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement after she obtained the indictment of James in Alexandria federal court.
“The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served,” Halligan said.
James, in a statement, said, “This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General.”
She called the charges “baseless,” saying that Trump’s “own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost.
“The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties,” James said.
“His decision to fire a United States Attorney who refused to bring charges against me – and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president – is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice.”
James was ordered to make her first appearance in the criminal case on Oct. 24 in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia. The case has been assigned to Judge Jamar Walker, who was appointed to the bench in 2023 by then-President Joe Biden.
If convicted, James faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison, and up to a $1 million fine on each count. Any actual sentence would likely be much less severe given federal sentencing guidelines.
The indictment alleges that total amount of purported “ill-gotten gains” by James were only about $19,000 over the life of the loan, which was originated in mid-2020.
Halligan on Sept. 25 obtained a criminal indictment against Comey, on charges related to his allegedly lying to Congress in 2020.
Halligan also had personally presented the evidence in Comey’s case, reportedly after other prosecutors balked at the idea. It is highly unusual for a U.S. Attorney to present a case to a grand jury.
Comey pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in Alexandria on Wednesday and was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 5.
Halligan’s predecessor as acting U.S. Attorney, Erik Siebert, resigned on Sept. 19, shortly after Trump said he wanted him gone.
Siebert told Justice Department officials before he quit that “investigators found insufficient evidence to bring charges against Ms. James and had also raised concerns about a potential case against Mr. Comey,” The New York Times reported on the day he resigned.
Trump promptly tapped Halligan to replace Siebert.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul blasted the indictment of her fellow Democrat James.
“New Yorkers know @NewYorkStateAG James for her integrity, her independence, and her relentless fight for justice,” Hochul wrote in a post on X.
“What we’re seeing today is nothing less than the weaponization of the Justice Department to punish those who hold the powerful accountable,” the governor wrote.
James’ indictment comes three days after MSNBC reported that a top prosecutor in Halligan’s office, Elizabeth Yusi, was resisting pressure to ask a grand jury to charge James.
“Yusi … has confided to co-workers that she sees no probable cause to believe James engaged in mortgage fraud, the two sources told MSNBC,” that report on Monday said.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte in April made a criminal referral against James with the U.S. Justice Department, saying she had in multiple instances falsified bank documents and property records in connection with the Norfolk home and a New York property.
In a letter in April to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Lowell called Pulte’s allegations “baseless.”
Pulte has made similar accusations about purported mortgage fraud against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Trump cited those claims in August when he tried to fire Cook, who, like James, is the first Black woman to hold her position. A federal district court judge blocked Trump from removing Cook while her lawsuit challenging her termination was pending.
The Supreme Court on Oct. 1 said Cook could remain in her post pending the outcome of oral arguments over the dispute, which are set for January.
In early September, James asked New York state’s highest court to overturn an appeals court’s decision tossing out the $500 million penalty imposed on Trump and his company in the business fraud case.
“I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization,” James said in her statement on Thursday.
“We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence – not politics,” she said. “Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud.”
“I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space,” James said. “And 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.”
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