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A veteran federal prosecutor in Virginia has told her colleagues that she finds no basis there is sufficient evidence to pursue criminal mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, as reported by a source knowledgeable about the situation.

The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who manages major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, intends to shortly present her assessment to Lindsey Halligan, a supporter of Trump who was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in the previous month.

The Justice Department offered no statement on the matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also did not respond to a request for comment.

High-Profile Dispute Between Justice Department and Former President

This case marks another high-profile confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier removed attorneys who declined to prosecute his opponents. Halligan, who has no prosecutorial experience, was named to the role following pressure from Trump after her preceding attorney concluded there was no probable cause to file criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director.

Trump has explicitly urged the U.S. Attorney General to charge James, who spearheaded a civil fraud case against the president that resulted in a half-billion dollar fine, though the judgment was later reversed by a New York state appellate court.

Mortgage Fraud Claims and Investigation

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a strong Trump ally, made a allegation against James to the Justice Department in April, claiming she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte pointed to mortgage documents associated with a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James assisted in buying for her niece, in which James appeared to indicate on a document that she intended to use the home as her principal dwelling. James was acting as the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to examine the matter but had trouble building a case against James, notwithstanding pressure from Trump allies. Electronic correspondence from the time of the home purchase and further mortgage documents show James explicitly stating that she did not intend for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence poses a challenge for prosecutors to prove that James deliberately falsified on the mortgage documents.

Recent Turnover in Prosecutorial Division

Multiple prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have faced termination or resigned in recent weeks as Trump has escalated pressure on the office to bring charges against Comey and James.

Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, resigned on September 19 after facing pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a top deputy to Siebert, was also terminated in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a top national security prosecutor in the office, was similarly dismissed last week after inaccurate accusations from a pro-Trump media personality.

“The leadership is focused with penalizing the President’s opponents than they are with safeguarding our national security,” he expressed in his farewell letter to colleagues.

“Justice for Americans harmed by our enemies should not be contingent on what someone in the Department of Justice encounters in their digital platforms that day.”