US President Donald Trump and New York Attorney General Leticia James.
Brian Snyder David Dee Delgado | Reuters
Virginia’s top federal prosecutors are resisting the pressures of President Donald Trump to seek criminal charges against President Trump’s longtime antagonist, New York Attorney General Leticia James, MSNBC reported Monday.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Yushi is working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which recently obtained the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, another target of President Trump’s rage.
“Yushi, who oversees major criminal prosecutions at the Norfolk office of the Eastern District of Virginia, has confessed to his colleagues that he has found no good reason to believe James was involved in mortgage fraud,” two sources told MSNBC.
“Yushi will present his conclusion to the president’s new interim US Attorney Lindsay Harrigan in the coming weeks,” the MSNBC reported.
Harrigan was placed in the office by President Trump after his predecessor, Eric Sheebert, opposed Comey’s accusations and resigned under pressure from President Trump.
Shortly afterwards, Harrigan ordered a grand jury to indict Comey for falsely lying while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020.
Comey denied the allegations.
Over the weekend, President Trump called James “dass” in a social media post, urging him to be fired from the Attorney General.
On September 20, President Trump called on Attorney General Pam Bondy in a social media post to prosecute Senators James, Comey and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
Bill Parth, whom President Trump appointed Federal Housing and Finance Agency Director, suggested that James committed a mortgage scam in connection with his niece’s home in Norfolk, Virginia.
James’s attorney Abby Lowell denied any suggestion that James said his home was her main residence to get a more favorable loan interest rate.
“Lowell mistakenly mentioned the home as the main residence in his power of attorney, but James himself pointed out that on his loan application he ticked ‘no’ when asked if the home was his main residence,” MSNBC reported. “And also, Lowell said James sent an email to the mortgage broker saying the house was ‘not my main residence.’
James appealed a court of appeals decision in early September that imposed a $500 million fine on Trump and his company in connection with business fraud. The Court of Appeal said the fine violates an excessive fine prohibited by the United States Constitution.
The court upheld the trial judge’s findings that Trump and others committed business fraud.
He denied any misconduct in the case that stemmed from the lawsuit filed against him.
