A grand jury has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on a fraud charge, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday. It is the latest indication of President Donald Trump and his administration’s determination to use the Justice Department to pursue the president’s political foes.
James last year won a staggering judgment against Trump and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he lied to banks and others about the value of his assets.
James was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on one count after a mortgage fraud investigation, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. James has denied wrongdoing. She has said that she made an error while filling out a form related to the home purchase but quickly rectified it and didn’t deceive the lender.
Other news we’re following:
Trump discusses plans to visit the Middle East: Trump opened a meeting with his Cabinet at the White House on Thursday by speaking about the Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal and his plans to travel to the Middle East. Trump also said he has been invited to speak before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, during the trip. He said he would be the first U.S. president to address the Knesset, but that’s not accurate. Former president George W. Bush spoke before the parliamentary body in May 2008.Trump says officials opposing Guard deployment should be jailed: Trump on Wednesday said the Illinois governor and Chicago mayor should be jailed as they oppose his deployment of National Guard troops for his immigration and crime crackdown in the nation’s third-largest city. The officials said they would not be deterred.Frustrated lawmakers say lack of trust is making it harder to end the government shutdown: Groups of lawmakers have tried to brainstorm ways out of the standoff that has shuttered government offices, kept hundreds of thousands of federal employees at home and threatened to leave them without a scheduled payday. But they have found themselves running up against the reality that the relationship between the two parties is badly broken.