The case involves a 2020 home purchase and has quickly drawn national attention.
A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, returned an indictment charging James with one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution. The case stems from her 2020 purchase of a home in Norfolk, Virginia.
Prosecutors say she falsely claimed the property would be used as a secondary residence in order to secure more favorable loan terms. According to the indictment, she instead rented the property out to a family, saving nearly 19,000 dollars over the life of the loan.
The Justice Department’s case against James comes amid an intensified push by Trump’s administration to pursue what the president has described as “retribution” against his political opponents.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the indictment shortly after it was handed up and wrote on X, “One tier of justice for all Americans.” James is scheduled to make her first court appearance on October 24 in Norfolk.
The case was brought forward by Lindsey Halligan, the newly installed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a former Trump aide. Halligan personally presented the evidence to the grand jury, bypassing career prosecutors who had previously declined to bring charges. Her appointment came after the removal of Erik Siebert, a veteran prosecutor who had resisted pressure to indict.
James, a Democrat, has called the charges “baseless” and accused the president of weaponizing the justice system for political gain. “These charges are nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” James said in a statement. Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, added that the case reflects “a serious attack on the rule of law” and vowed to fight the charges in court.
This indictment is the second in just two weeks involving a high-profile Trump adversary. Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted in late September on charges of lying to Congress.
Like James, he has pleaded not guilty and accused the administration of pursuing a politically motivated prosecution. Both indictments were brought by Halligan after Trump publicly declared on September 20 that James, Comey and others were “guilty as hell.”
The political backdrop of the case is significant. James became a prominent target for Trump after she filed a civil fraud lawsuit in 2022 accusing him and his family business of inflating asset values to secure loans. That case led to a 454 million dollar judgment against Trump, later overturned on appeal but leaving intact a finding of liability for fraud. Trump has long accused James of pursuing him for political reasons.
Critics say the prosecution of James represents a sharp break from precedent. The administration’s decision to replace career prosecutors with political allies has drawn condemnation from legal experts and members of both parties.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called it “what tyranny looks like” and accused the president of using the Justice Department as “his personal attack dog.”
For now, James remains in her position as New York’s top law enforcement officer and has vowed to stay on the job as she fights the charges. The outcome of the case and the broader effort by the administration to prosecute Trump’s critics is likely to shape the political and legal landscape in the months ahead.