A top prosecutor in Virginia has reportedly informed colleagues she plans to decline to seek charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, despite intense pressure from President Donald Trump.
Elizabeth Yusi, who oversees major criminal prosecutions in the Norfolk office of the Eastern District of Virginia, has confided to two co-workers that she sees no probable cause to believe James engaged in mortgage fraud, the sources told MSNBC. Yusi plans to present her conclusion to the president’s new interim U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, in the coming weeks, they said.
Trump appointed Halligan to the role after he announced two weeks ago that he would fire the first acting U.S. attorney he appointed to the post, Erik Siebert, who resisted seeking fraud charges against James and other charges against former FBI Director James Comey. Siebert resigned Sept. 19 after learning he would lose his job.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District are now bracing for Yusi to be fired for her own resistance to try a case that many lawyers have said lacks sufficient evidence, according to the two people.
Trump has publicly called on the Justice Department to criminally prosecute James. In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump called James “SCUM,” saying she should be removed as New York attorney general and pointing to what he called “her WITCH HUNT against President Donald J. Trump, and others.”
On Friday, the top national security prosecutor in Virginia’s Eastern District railed against Justice Department political appointees for carrying out Trump’s directives rather than fulfilling their oath to “follow the facts and the law wherever they lead, free from fear or favor, and unhindered by political interference.”
James successfully sued Trump and his real estate company, the Trump Organization, for what she said was a series of fraudulent business practices, securing a 2024 civil fraud verdict and a nearly $500 million penalty from a New York judge. The verdict was upheld on appeal, but the monetary penalty was thrown out two months ago, in August, after a court deemed it excessive. Trump proclaimed “total victory” after the appellate court’s decision, while James vowed to appeal.
Trump has repeatedly insisted James face consequences for what he deemed to be a spurious attack on him.
The allegation that James engaged in mortgage fraud stems from a May “criminal referral” made by Trump ally Bill Pulte, whom the president appointed as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He cited “media reports” suggesting that James had falsely claimed a Norfolk, Virginia, home where her niece resides as her primary residence to secure a lower mortgage rate.
In a Sept. 20 social media post, Trump called on Bondi to prosecute the alleged crimes of James, former FBI Director James Comey and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) He claimed they were “all guilty as hell.” The president pointed to his two impeachments and multiple indictments as baseless.
