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A senior federal prosecutor in Virginia has told her colleagues that she finds no basis there is legal grounds to pursue mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a source knowledgeable about the situation.

The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who manages major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, plans to shortly present her conclusion to Lindsey Halligan, a ally of the former president who was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia recently.

The Justice Department offered no statement on the matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also ignored a request for comment.

Major Confrontation Between Justice Department and Trump

This case represents another major confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier fired attorneys who resisted to prosecute his political enemies. Halligan, who possesses no prosecutorial experience, was selected to the role at the urging of Trump after her preceding attorney concluded there was no legal basis to file criminal charges against James Comey, the previous FBI director.

Trump has publicly urged the U.S. Attorney General to take legal action against James, who spearheaded a civil fraud case against the president that resulted in a massive fine, though the ruling was later reversed by a New York state appellate court.

Loan Fraud Allegations and Inquiry

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a dedicated Trump ally, made a legal complaint against James to the Justice Department in April, claiming she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte cited mortgage documents pertaining to a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James supported the acquisition of for her niece, in which James seemed to state on a document that she intended to use the home as her principal dwelling. James was serving as the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to look into the matter but struggled building a case against James, even with pressure from Trump allies. Messages from the time of the home purchase and additional mortgage documents reveal James explicitly stating that she did not mean for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence poses a challenge for prosecutors to prove that James deliberately falsified on the mortgage documents.

Recent Shake-Up in Justice Unit

Multiple prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have either been fired or left their posts in recent weeks as Trump has increased pressure on the office to bring charges against Comey and James.

Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, left his position on September 19 after encountering pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a senior deputy to Siebert, was also fired in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a leading national security prosecutor in the office, was also fired last week after false accusations from a pro-Trump media personality.

“The leadership is more concerned with punishing the President’s political foes than they are with safeguarding our national security,” he wrote in his farewell letter to colleagues.

“Justice for Americans harmed by our enemies should not be contingent on what someone in the Department of Justice reads in their online content that day.”