Trump admin again pursuing James over alleged home fraud

STATEWIDE – FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE Agency director Bill Pulte on Wednesday made two criminal referrals against New York state attorney general Letitia James over alleged insurance fraud at two Virginia properties tied to the A.G., reports MS NOW.

The referrals were made to U.S. attorneys in Illinois and Florida, where the insurance companies Allstate and Universal Property Insurance are based, and center around allegations that James misrepresented the purposes of the two homes in insurance applications. Pulte alleged that James claimed one property had a single resident, when it had four, and that the other was occupied five months out of the year, when it was occupied year-round.

The Trump administration, on three previous occasions last year, attempted to prosecute James for similar mortgage fraud claims linked to these properties. In the first instance, while James was indicted by a grand jury, the case was dismissed on procedural grounds; two subsequent grand juries then failed to return an indictment against James. James has been a strident opponent of President Donald Trump, and following a series of high-profile legal victories against the president has frequently attracted his ire.

"Trump and his political enablers keep abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against [James] by trying to rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations. […] These desperate tactics will fail – just as every previous attempt has failed," James' attorney told MS NOW in a statement.

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