NY Attorney General Speaks Out After Indictment

NEW YORK — New York State Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted, according to multiple reports.

ABC News reported that James had been indicted on at least one count of reported mortgage fraud.

James issued a statement after she was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s office of the Eastern District of Virginia.

"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 said.

"These charges are baseless, and the president’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.

"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.

"I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization. We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence — not politics. 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. 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.”

According to the Associated Press, James was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on one count after a mortgage fraud investigation, said a person who spoke "on the condition of anonymity."

A spokesperson for the Eastern District of Virginia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The indictment comes just weeks after a case charging former FBI Director James Comey of lying to Congress, the AP said..

The reports of indictment come after President Donald Trump's recent demand that the Department of Justice move to charge his "political enemies," ABC quoted sources as saying.

According to the AP, "the James case remained under seal Thursday, making it impossible to assess what evidence prosecutors have. But as was the case with the Comey charges, the prosecution followed a strikingly unconventional case."

James, a second-term Democrat, has denied wrongdoing, the AP said. She has said that she made an error while filling out a form related to the home purchase but rectified it quickly.

"Her lawyer has accused the Justice Department of concocting a bogus criminal case to settle Trump’s personal vendetta against James, who last year won a staggering judgment against Trump and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he lied to banks and others about the value of his assets," the AP report said.