New York State Attorney General Letitia James is scheduled to appear in federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday, October 24th. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk is expected to be the location of a large rally in support of James. The prosecution of the Attorney General of New York is widely viewed as a retaliatory act driven by President Trump, who was prosecuted by the New York Attorney General last year.
James was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia on October 9, 2025, for charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. The charges are related to her 2020 purchase of a property in Norfolk, Virginia, where she is accused of misrepresenting the property as her primary residence to get more favorable mortgage terms, when in fact it was an investment property. She has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated.
It has been widely reported that prosecutors who challenge the James prosecution are being fired by the Trump Administration. Following their alleged refusal to charge James, newly appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan sent termination letters to two prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia, Beth Yusi and Kristin Bird.
According to the five-page indictment against Attorney General James, she made a false assertion that the house she bought in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020 was a “second home.”
The allegations against James focus on a mortgage agreement the New York Democrat signed in 2020 to purchase a house in Norfolk, Virginia. James allegedly stated in loan documents that she would use the property as her secondary residence – a claim that prosecutors say won her favorable loan terms but was in fact a lie, as she instead rented it out to a family. Her misrepresentation violated her mortgage agreement, prosecutors say, which barred James from renting out the property.
Prosecutors allege James improperly saved $18,933 because the interest rate on a mortgage for a second home is lower than interest rates on a loan for an investment property. The lower interest rate and another credit, they allege, account for the savings.
The first count James faces, bank fraud, charges her with scheming to defraud two financial institutions: OVM Financial, which helped James apply for the loan, and First Savings Bank, which was assigned to the loan. The second count charges James with lying to OVM Financial about her plans to rent the house.
James will make her first appearance in court on Friday, during which she will be presented with the charges against her. Prosecutors could ask the judge assigned to oversee the case to impose conditions for her release, though such conditions are not common when defendants aren’t accused of violent crimes or at risk of fleeing.
She faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
If it is in fact her “second home” and her great-niece lived there…and Tish did not accept any rent from her and Tish always paid for repairs and taxes herself….then it is NOT a rental property. Her income statements and bank statements will reveal it all.