Bill Pulte, the director of the Trump administration’s Federal Housing Finance Agency, has reportedly asked prosecutors in Florida and Illinois to investigate New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage insurance fraud. The criminal referrals, first reported by MS Now and CBS News, accuse James of submitting fraudulent applications to Universal Property Insurance in Florida and Allstate in Illinois.
This marks the latest attempt by Trump allies to pursue legal action against James, who secured a $450m civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump and his sons in 2024. That penalty was later overturned by a five-judge panel, and James’s office is appealing to have it reinstated.
Previous efforts to charge James have failed. A similar case in Virginia collapsed after a judge ruled that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed, and grand juries there twice declined to indict her. Separately, federal prosecutors are reportedly examining James’s financial dealings with her hairdresser, who faces bank fraud and identity theft charges in Louisiana.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for James, dismissed the latest referrals as politically motivated. “Frustrated by repeated failures, where judges and grand juries have rejected their attempts to charge Attorney General James, Trump and his political enablers keep abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her,” Lowell said in a statement.
The Trump administration has faced criticism for using the justice department to investigate political opponents, including former FBI director James Comey, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
