A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James is responding to a Trump administration official’s criminal referral to the Department of Justice alleging mortgage fraud.
James has denounced the allegations as “baseless.”
Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling it “the latest act of improper political retribution — this time directed at Ms. James — publicly instigated and endorsed by President Trump.”
In the letter, Lowell says the allegations in the referral are “long-disproven” and says they lack “any credible foundation.”
In 2022, James sued Donald Trump for years of alleged financial fraud. He was found liable and ultimately fined $354 million, which has climbed to above $500 million due to interest accruing as he appeals.
“The stunning hypocrisy of President Trump’s complaint that the Justice Department had been ‘politicized’ and ‘weaponized’ against him is laid bare as he and others in his Administration are now asking you to undertake the very same practice,” Lowell wrote.
Lowell pointed out that during her confirmation hearing, Bondi said “politics would not play a part” in the Justice Department under her leadership.
The accusations against James
Federal Housing Director William Pulte wrote the criminal referral letter to Bondi earlier this month, alleging James listed a Virginia property as her primary residence, that she improperly listed the number of units in her Brooklyn home to secure a favorable loan, and that she also was listed as her father’s spouse on another loan application.
In Lowell’s letter, he took on each allegation in turn, accusing Pulte of “cherry picking” and not looking at the entire body of documents involved.
Lowell wrote that the allegation that James listed a Virginia property as her primary residence “absolutely ignored her very clear and all caps statement two weeks earlier to the mortgage loan broker ‘this property WILL NOT be my primary residence,'” but will rather be the primary residence of her niece. Lowell said emails with the mortgage broker at the time show that the broker understood this, and that the home would indeed be the primary residence of her niece.
As to the allegation that her Brooklyn home has five residences and she applied for a loan meant for residences with four units, Lowell points to a 2011 loan application confirming it’s a four-unit property, as well as city records showing it is a four unit property.
As to the allegation that James was listed as a “spouse” on a mortgage application filled out by her father, Lowell writes the “actual May 20, 1983 deed lists her father ‘and Letitia James, his daughter.'”
“As I have set forth, the exhibits Director Pulte included with his letter are notable for the fact that he omitted numerous other records (some of which we have have included) which refute the allegations of impropriety, and make clear that a mistake on one line had no significance,” Lowell wrote. “If there is anything that you believe I have not addressed in the real facts and documents provided, please let me know. Otherwise, we would expect a quick response confirming that this referral matter has been closed by the Department.”
Read the full letter
