The Virginia federal prosecutor who resisted bringing mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James sent investigative information with James’ personally figuring out data to her personal non-public email account, in accordance an email reviewed by NCS.
The prosecutor, Beth Yusi, was dismissed earlier this month at the least partially due to the mishandling of the personal data, folks accustomed to her termination mentioned.
Yusi’s legal professional Margaret Donovan instructed NCS that the previous prosecutor “has no record of any such email” and “has never used her personal email account for any portion of any investigation.”
“Ms. Yusi is a well-respected prosecutor, a leader among her peers, and a consummate professional with nearly two decades of experience,” Donovan mentioned.
Sharing proof from an ongoing investigation is often not a violation of the regulation if it doesn’t embrace categorized data, nevertheless it does violate DOJ coverage.
The Justice Department declined to remark for this story.
Before her ousting, Yusi authored an inner memo that defined why prosecutors believed there was not sufficient proof to carry charges against James. Her firing drew quick criticism from these who have accused the Justice Department of following directives from the White House to goal Trump’s political opponents.
Sources beforehand instructed NCS that her work on the memo additionally contributed to her firing.
Her firing comes after the federal prosecutor’s workplace in Virginia, which was pushed into chaos in September as profession prosecutors resisted bringing legal charges against James. Yusi’s departure, together with a number of others, is indicative of a deepening cut up between the political appointees who lead the highly effective workplace and its roster of skilled prosecutors.
NCS beforehand reported that US Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who runs the Virginia workplace, believed attorneys have been leaking “unauthorized” data to the press.
Halligan personally introduced James’ case to the grand jury that returned the indictment.
A DOJ official beforehand mentioned in a press release to NCS that Halligan was by no means proven the memo explaining why prosecutors didn’t need to pursue charges against James.