Bill Pulte, the Trump administration's federal housing finance director, has requested a new criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging mortgage insurance fraud. The criminal referrals, reported by MS Now and CBS News, were sent to prosecutors in Florida and Illinois, claiming James submitted fraudulent applications to Universal Property Insurance and Allstate.
This is not the first attempt to bring charges against James. A similar mortgage fraud case in Virginia collapsed after a judge ruled the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed. Prosecutors there also failed twice to secure a grand jury indictment on the same allegations.
Separately, federal prosecutors are investigating James's financial transactions with her hairdresser, who faces criminal charges for bank fraud and identity theft in Louisiana, according to the New York Times.
James is a prominent critic of Donald Trump. Her office secured a $450m civil fraud judgment against Trump and his sons in 2024, but a five-judge panel overturned the financial penalty last year. James's office is appealing to reinstate the penalty.
The Trump administration has been accused of using the justice department to target political opponents, including former FBI director James Comey, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
In a statement, James's lawyer Abbe Lowell dismissed the 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.
