Trump’s DOJ Can’t Stop Failing to Indict Tish James
The federal government’s pursuit of legal action against President Donald Trump’s political enemies hit a significant stumbling block last month as a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s indictments against New York attorney general Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey following the disqualification of its leading prosecutor, with the agency vowing to continue its quixotic quest. Those efforts continue to fail.
Two separate federal grand juries in Virginia have now declined to reindict James on allegations of mortgage fraud in the span of one week. These represent — by non-Trump-era standards — a huge public blow to the Justice Department, which is historically known for its high success rate in securing indictments.
An Alexandria grand jury declined to bring new charges against James on Thursday, sources tell the New York Times. Last Thursday, a grand jury in Norfolk similarly declined to reindict the attorney general in connection with mortgage-fraud claims that the initial indictment centered around.
“This unprecedented rejection makes even clearer that this case should never have seen the light of day,” James’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “Career prosecutors who knew better refused to bring it, and now two different grand juries in two different cities have refused to allow these baseless charges to be brought. Any further attempt to revive these discredited charges would be a mockery of our system of justice.”
In October, Lindsey Halligan, the embattled interim U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, manage to secure an indictment against James, alleging that the attorney general rented out a home that she purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, despite indicating in a loan application that the property would be her second residence. James was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, counts that she pleaded not guilty to. James’s legal team also successfully challenged the legality of Halligan’s appointment to her role, which stemmed from the forced ouster of her predecessor, Erik Siebert — who resigned under pressure due to his reluctance to pursue charges against James and Comey. Last month, a federal judge ruled that Halligan was improperly appointed and moved to dismiss both James and Comey’s indictments, saying that all actions taken under her “defective” appointment “constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.”