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A veteran federal prosecutor in Virginia has told her colleagues that she finds no basis there is sufficient evidence to pursue fraudulent mortgage charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, per a source acquainted with the situation.

The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who manages high-profile investigations in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, plans to imminently present her finding to Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally who was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia last month.

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.

High-Profile Confrontation Between Justice Department and Trump

This case represents another high-profile confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier removed attorneys who resisted to prosecute his political enemies. Halligan, who lacks any prosecutorial experience, was selected to the role following pressure from Trump after her former office holder concluded there was no legal basis to file criminal charges against James Comey, the previous FBI director.

Trump has explicitly called for the U.S. Attorney General to take legal action against James, who spearheaded a civil fraud case against the ex-president that resulted in a half-billion dollar fine, though the ruling was subsequently thrown out by a New York state appellate court.

Housing Fraud Claims and Probe

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a staunch Trump ally, made a allegation against James to the Justice Department in April, alleging she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte cited mortgage documents related to a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James assisted in buying for her niece, in which James appeared to indicate on a document that she meant to reside in the home as her principal dwelling. James was acting as the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to examine the matter but faced difficulties building a case against James, notwithstanding demands from Trump allies. Electronic correspondence from the time of the home purchase and other mortgage documents reveal James explicitly stating that she did not plan for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence poses a challenge for prosecutors to prove that James knowingly lied on the mortgage documents.

Recent Turnover in Prosecutorial Unit

Multiple prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have been dismissed 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, stepped down on September 19 after encountering pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a top deputy to Siebert, was also fired in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a prominent national security prosecutor in the office, was removed last week after false accusations from a pro-Trump media personality.

“The leadership is focused with penalizing the President’s opponents than they are with protecting our national security,” he wrote in his farewell letter to colleagues.

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