A federal grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud on Thursday, sources said, rejecting the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case just ten days after a federal judge dismissed an earlier case based on the unlawful appointment of the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Federal prosecutors failed to convince a majority of grand jurors to approve charges that James misled a bank to obtain favorable terms on a home mortgage, according to sources.
The grand jury’s return of a “no true bill” in the case marked an extraordinary rebuke by average citizens of the Department of Justice’s attempt to bring charges against James, an adversary of President Donald Trump who has been the target of his repeated calls for prosecution.
A Justice Department representative declined to comment.
James, in a statement, said she was grateful to the members of the grand jury.
Trying again would be in character for this DOJ. They went before a grand jury three times to try to indict the guy who threw a sandwich at an ICE agent. After the third no-bill, they switched to charging him with misdemeanors, which don’t require going before a grand jury. (A regular jury tossed those charges at trial.)