NY AG Letitia James finds herself accused of the – Latest News
“No matter how big, rich or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.”
Those phrases by New York state Attorney General Letitia James echoed all through the media, lionizing her after her workplace secured a judgment in opposition to Donald Trump for false business practices, together with misrepresentations on loan paperwork.
They might echo even louder this week as James finds herself the subject of a prison referral for committing alleged financial fraud to secure her own property loans.
On April 14, William J. Pulte, Director of US Federal Housing (FHFA), despatched a referral letter to the Justice Department detailing alleged false statements made in filings by James to secure housing loans.
For an legal professional basic who simply prosecuted Trump for every part short of ripping a label off a mattress, the particulars in the referrals are significantly damning.
Indeed, the biggest hazard is that the Letitia James customary could possibly be utilized to Letitia James in guaranteeing that “no one is above the law.”
The allegations in opposition to James run from the demonstrably false to the downright weird.
In securing a loan for a home in Norfolk, Va., James is accused of claiming by her consultant that the property could be her principal residence.
As the referral notes, major residences obtain more advantageous charges.
However, as “the sitting New York Attorney General of New York [James] is required by law to have her primary residence in the state of New York.”
Notably, the Justice Department has prosecuted those that have dedicated this common fraud.
For instance, in 2017, it charged a man in Puerto Rico with false statements on a reverse mortgage loan utility wherein he falsely claimed the property as his principal residence.
It emphasised that “mortgage lenders provide capital so people can purchase homes, not enrich themselves illegally.”
There are different such circumstances underneath 18 U.S.C. 1014 and associated legal guidelines.
James may declare that these representations have been made by a third social gathering performing on her behalf.
However, that’s exactly the argument that she repeatedly rejected in the Trump case, insisting that he was legally obligated to review all filings made in his title or that of his firms.
James can be accused of misrepresenting a five-unit property in Brooklyn as a four-unit property “to receive better interest rates … and to receive mortgage assistance through [the Home Affordable Modification Program].”
The referral additionally contains a declare that James filed papers that listed herself and her father as a married couple.
The referral notes that simply final yr, Baltimore’s State Attorney, Marilyn Mosby, was convicted by the Biden administration of submitting a false mortgage utility.
Another case resulted in a guilty plea final week for fraudulent filings in a home loan.
The timing for James couldn’t be worse.
The Trump civil case has languished on appeal for months with a long overdue opinion.
The appellate argument didn’t go properly for James in the case that resulted in a grotesque half-billion-dollar high quality in a case the place no one misplaced a dime.
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James accused Trump of inflating property worth in filings, a common observe in the real estate subject.
It didn’t matter that the company warned banks to do their own evaluations.
It didn’t matter that bank officers testified that they made money on the deal. Indeed, the “victim” needed more business from Trump.
None of that issues.
James not solely demanded an even higher high quality however needed to foreclose on Trump properties after Trump was informed to secure a ridiculous $455 million bond to easily secure appellate review.
Throughout that case, James repeated her mantra that there could be no exceptions for the wealthy and highly effective.
She insisted that accuracy on such financial information is important and should be rigorously enforced.
Many of us objected that James was selectively concentrating on Trump after she ran for workplace on the pledge to nail him on some unspecified offense.
James insisted that this was not lawfare and that she would prosecute anybody guilty of false or deceptive statements on financial filings. She is now allegedly that particular person.
It isn’t clear what James’ protection will likely be to those allegations.
However, she might cite the Supreme Court’s current choice in Thompson v. United States, which ruled in March that 18 U.S.C. § 1014 doesn’t criminalize statements which are merely deceptive however should not false.
The downside is that, if confirmed, these statements should not deceptive.
They are false.
Either this was James’ principal residence, or it was not.
Either this was a four-unit property, or it was not.
The allegation is that these statements coincided with loan situations that may give James a financial benefit.
James has one doubtless benefit.
She is unlikely to be prosecuted by New York prosecutors utilizing the ridiculous law weaponized in opposition to Trump.
She emphasised that Trump didn’t have to provide a single penny of loss for a sufferer to be hit with half a billion {dollars} in fines.
But that was Trump and that is New York.
There will likely be no mob or media frenzy demanding costs.
There will definitely be no James explaining how such prosecutions are important “because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the creator of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
