New York Attorney General Letitia James says the Trump administration engaged in “outrageous” conduct to beat hurdles to carry the mortgage fraud case against her and urged a decide to throw out the indictment.
James’ legal professionals level to the collective actions of President Donald Trump; Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who made the legal referral to the Justice Department; Attorney General Pam Bondi; Lindsey Halligan, the US legal professional who introduced the case; and Ed Martin, the particular legal professional in control of mortgage fraud instances.
“This indictment is the product of months of illegal and unethical behavior by government officials, only made possible by the misuse of a federal agency, the disregard of exculpatory evidence, the systematic removal of ethics officials and career prosecutors who stood in the way, and the improper attempt to install an unqualified U.S. Attorney with nothing to offer except undying loyalty,” legal professionals for James wrote in a motion Monday to dismiss the case.
“If this brazen, continuous disregard for the law and the Constitution is not outrageous government conduct, nothing is,” they wrote.
The movement, which is a protracted shot, is one among a number of authorized maneuvers James’ legal professionals have launched to attempt to get the charges dismissed. The indictment alleges she misled a lender when she obtained a mortgage in 2020 on a property in Norfolk, Virginia.
James has previously argued the charges ought to be thrown out on the premise that the case is the results of vindictive and selective prosecution and that Halligan is serving unlawfully as US legal professional. She can also be asking the decide to offer her with materials from the grand jury presentation, together with whether or not any exculpatory proof was offered. Prosecutors haven’t but responded to the filings.
James has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is scheduled for January.
In the most recent submitting, James’ legal professionals raised questions in regards to the supply of fabric for Pulte’s referral, suggesting he might have improperly accessed mortgage information from Fannie Mae’s database. Citing media studies, the legal professionals say Pulte fired officers from the FHFA inspector normal’s workplace who had been trying into whether or not he adopted inside procedures.
They additionally highlighted inside messages between investigators at Fannie Mae to assist their declare. In one message, dated June 13, 2025, the Fannie Mae director of mortgage fraud investigations informed an affiliate: “the LJ case is certainly not clear and convincing evidence” of fraud,” in accordance with the courtroom submitting. The affiliate responds, “director asking how we know that the [niece] has lived there since oct 2020,” which James’ legal professionals say is “clearly demonstrating Director Pulte’s intimate and direct involvement in the investigation.”
James is accused of falsely stating she would use the property as a second dwelling. Prosecutors allege she rented out the property and benefited from decrease rates of interest by receiving a mortgage for a second dwelling as a substitute of an funding property. People conversant in the association say James’ grandniece has lived within the property because it was bought and has by no means paid hire.
Pulte, James’ legal professionals’ argued, performed a hands-on function and despatched further info, together with a monetary calculation of rate of interest variations, to Martin and Halligan, who was named US legal professional for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor refused to carry a case against James.
In addition to Pulte, James’ legal professionals say Martin’s conduct violated skilled guidelines and DOJ coverage by suggesting if James resigned the investigation can be dropped. They additionally mentioned when Martin posed for photos outdoors of James’ Brooklyn dwelling, it was an act of intimidation.
“The charges she now faces are inextricably linked to the government’s illegal and unethical investigatory techniques,” James’ legal professionals wrote.
If the decide doesn’t dismiss the indictment, James’ legal professionals are asking for extra communication between Trump, Bondi, Halligan, Martin and Pulte, in addition to their workers.
Based on some info they’ve already acquired, her legal professionals wrote, “over 100 pages of discovery likely turned over by the former FHFA acting inspector general has not been produced.”
Asks for grand jury data
James’ staff on Monday additionally requested the courtroom to order prosecutors to turn over documents related to the grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, that permitted the charges against her in October, in addition to one empaneled in Norfolk this summer season because the Justice Department was investigating her.
Halligan in the end requested solely the Alexandria grand jury to vote on the charges, one thing James’ attorneys described as a “unique set of circumstances” that warranted their proper to sift by means of a trove of paperwork they don’t have entry to with the intention to “assess whether the grand jury that brought the indictment was selected, presented to and instructed properly.”
Among the supplies James’ staff needs entry to are paperwork regarding how the jurors in Alexandria had been screened, statements Halligan made to the jurors in Alexandria, and whether or not sure info offered to the Norfolk grand jury — together with probably exculpatory information — was additionally given to the jurors who had been requested to vote on the charges.
An individual conversant in the investigation has mentioned James’ grandniece testified earlier than the Norfolk grand jury.
“The need for disclosing the narrow set of grand jury materials being requested is high,” James’ legal professionals wrote in courtroom papers, acknowledging the truth that the paperwork sought are ordinarily saved underneath wraps.
The same battle over grand jury data in James Comey’s legal case has been underway in latest weeks. A decide has ordered prosecutors within the former FBI director’s case at hand over all grand jury supplies to Comey’s staff, however the authorities is making an attempt to cease that call.