(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) New York Attorney General Letitia James is under federal investigation over mortgage fraud claims, according to a Thursday report from the Albany Times Union.
The probe, led by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albany, was launched after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte referred the matter for federal investigation.
U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III, a Trump appointee, is heading the inquiry. The probe centers on real estate and mortgage transactions in both New York and Virginia.
According to Pulte, James falsified records to obtain favorable loan terms on two properties, a Virginia home she bought in 2023 and a Brooklyn brownstone she has owned since 2001.
BREAKING: A criminal referral has been sent to the Department of Justice, accusing New York AG Letitia James of mortgage fraud.
How the tables have turned…
Fox News is now reporting that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has sent a criminal referral to Attorney General Pam… pic.twitter.com/7KHpkoOGpk
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 15, 2025
The complaint also accuses James of claiming the Virginia home would serve as her “principal residence”—despite actively serving as New York’s top law enforcement officer.
“Ms. James, for both properties listed above, appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms,” Pulte wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Pulte warned that James’s alleged actions could amount to several criminal offenses, including wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution.
James led one of the most vicious legal attacks against President Donald Trump in 2021.
She specifically accused Trump of inflating his property values to secure favorable loans, all of which were fully repaid with interest.
James now faces nearly identical accusations herself.
She dismissed the allegations as “baseless,” but nonetheless hired Abbe Lowell as her legal representative.
Lowell is infamously known for defending Hunter Biden during his criminal trials and congressional investigations.
“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 reportedly wrote in a letter to Bondi.
“This so-called ‘criminal referral,’ which recycles long-disproven allegations and is ‘(b)ased on media reports’ lacks any credible foundation,” he added.
