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A federal grand jury has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on one count of fraud following a mortgage investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The indictment was handed down on Thursday in the Eastern District of Virginia, about two weeks after a similar grand jury charged former FBI Director James Comey in a separate case.
“James was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on one count after a mortgage fraud investigation,” a person briefed on the case told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The case remains sealed, and details of the evidence presented to the grand jury have not been released.
Neither James nor her office has issued a public statement about the indictment. She has previously denied any wrongdoing, telling reporters that a filing error was made “while filling out a form related to the home purchase” but that she “quickly rectified it and didn’t deceive the lender,” the report added.
The indictment marks a dramatic development for one of the nation’s most high-profile Democratic attorneys general, who gained national attention for pursuing civil and criminal investigations into President Donald Trump and his businesses.
The news comes amid a broader series of federal investigations involving former senior law enforcement officials.
In late September, former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice. Those charges were brought after President Trump replaced the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, with White House aide Lindsey Halligan, who reportedly sought a grand jury indictment before the statute of limitations expired.
The charges against Comey likely stem from his 2020 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During that hearing, Comey told Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that he “stood by” earlier testimony claiming he did not authorize leaks about FBI investigations into Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Comey’s former deputy, Andrew McCabe, has since stated that Comey did authorize such disclosures, according to a 2018 Justice Department inspector general report. That report also found McCabe made “multiple false or misleading statements” regarding his own conduct.