A senior Trump administration official has made new criminal referrals against New York Attorney General Letitia James.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said in a letter Wednesday to prosecutors in Florida that James may have falsified information on a homeowner\u2019s insurance application submitted to Fort Lauderdale-based Universal Property Insurance. In a separate letter to prosecutors in Illinois, Pulte alleged that James may have also provided false information on an application to Allstate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The referrals mark the latest development in a series of legal actions pursued by officials in President Trump\u2019s administration against James, a longtime political adversary. In a Truth Social post Wednesday night, President Trump wrote that James had been \u201creferred again for criminal prosecution for alleged homeowner insurance fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the referrals was sent to Jason Reding Qui\u00f1ones, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Qui\u00f1ones is currently leading an investigation into Obama-era officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan, related to intelligence findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to benefit Trump. Last year, Qui\u00f1ones also sought records connected to special counsel Jack Smith\u2019s investigations into Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second referral was sent to Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abbe Lowell, an attorney for James, rejected the allegations and criticized the administration\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cabusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her by trying to rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese desperate tactics will fail \u2014 just as every previous attempt has failed \u2014 and exposes an Administration that has abandoned its responsibility to the American people in favor of petty political payback,\u201d Lowell said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The new referrals follow a previously dismissed federal case against James. Last fall, she was charged in federal court with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, based on allegations that she misrepresented details about a property in Virginia to secure more favorable mortgage terms. James denied wrongdoing, and the charges were later dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The earlier indictment came after Pulte referred James for possible mortgage fraud, though the charges ultimately focused on a different property than the one cited in his referral. A federal judge dismissed the case in November, ruling that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan had been unlawfully appointed. A separate case brought by Halligan against former FBI Director James Comey was also dismissed, and two federal grand juries later declined to re-indict James on bank fraud charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the original indictment, James purchased a Virginia home in 2020 using a mortgage that required the property to be used as a second residence, but she allegedly rented it out as an investment property to obtain a lower interest rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James has argued that she is being targeted for political reasons, particularly after she sued Trump in civil court during the period between his presidential terms. A New York judge found Trump and his company liable for fraud and ordered them to pay hundreds of millions of dollars, though an appellate court later overturned the financial judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In court filings last year, James\u2019s attorneys accused Pulte of using the Federal Housing Finance Agency \u2014 which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac \u2014 as a \u201cweapon to be brandished against President Trump\u2019s political enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n