Justice Department again fails to re-indict New York Attorney General
Letitia James, AP sources say
[December 12, 2025]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A grand jury declined for a second time in a week
to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday in
another major blow to the Justice Department's efforts to prosecute the
president's political opponents.
The repeated failures amounted to a stunning rebuke of prosecutors' bid
to resurrect a criminal case President Donald Trump pressured them to
bring, and hinted at a growing public leeriness of the administration's
retribution campaign.
A grand jury rejection is an unusual circumstance in any case, but is
especially stinging for a Justice Department that has been steadfast in
its determination to seek revenge against Trump foes like James and
former FBI Director James Comey. On separate occasions, citizens have
heard the government’s evidence against James and have come away
underwhelmed, unwilling to rubber-stamp what prosecutors have attempted
to portray as a clear-cut criminal case.
A judge threw out the original indictments against James and Comey in
November, ruling that the prosecutor who presented to the grand jury,
Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern
District of Virginia.
The Justice Department asked a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, to
return an indictment Thursday after a different grand jury in Norfolk
last week refused to do so. The failure to secure an indictment was
confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized
to publicly discuss the case and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
It was not immediately clear Thursday whether prosecutors would try for
a third time to seek a new indictment. One of the people familiar with
the matter said prosecutors were still evaluating next steps and stood
behind the charges.
A lawyer for James, who has denied any wrongdoing, said the
“unprecedented rejection makes even clearer that this case should never
have seen the light of day.”
“This case already has been a stain on this Department’s reputation and
raises troubling questions about its integrity,” defense attorney Abbe
Lowell said in a statement. "Any further attempt to revive these
discredited charges would be a mockery of our system of justice.”
James, a Democrat who infuriated Trump after his first term with a
lawsuit alleging that he built his business empire on lies about his
wealth, was initially charged with bank fraud and making false
statements to a financial institution in connection with a home purchase
in 2020.
During the sale, she signed a standard document called a “second home
rider” in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her
“personal use and enjoyment for at least one year,” unless the lender
agreed otherwise. Rather than using the home as a second residence,
prosecutors say James rented it out to a family of three, allowing her
to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties.
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New York Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks after pleading not
guilty outside the United States District Court Oct. 24, 2025, in
Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/John Clark, File)
Both the James and Comey cases were brought shortly after the
administration installed Halligan, a former Trump lawyer with no prior
prosecutorial experience, as U.S. attorney amid public calls from the
president to take action against his political opponents.
But U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie threw out the cases last
month over the unconventional mechanism that the Trump administration
employed to appoint Halligan. The judge dismissed them without
prejudice, allowing the Justice Department to try to file the charges
again.
Halligan had been named as a replacement for Erik Siebert, a veteran
prosecutor in the office and interim U.S. attorney who resigned in
September amid Trump administration pressure to file charges against
both Comey and James. He stepped aside after Trump told reporters he
wanted Siebert “out.”
The White House is moving forward with the formal confirmation process
for Halligan, and she recently returned her nominee questionnaire to the
Senate Judiciary Committee, which vets all U.S. attorney picks. But her
nomination faces significant procedural obstacles.
James’ lawyers separately argued the case was a vindictive prosecution
brought to punish the Trump critic who spent years investigating and
suing the Republican president and won a staggering judgment in a
lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real
estate holdings on financial statements. The fine was later tossed out
by a higher court, but both sides are appealing.
Comey was separately charged with lying to Congress in 2020. Another
federal judge has complicated the Justice Department’s efforts to seek a
new indictment against Comey, temporarily barring prosecutors from
accessing computer files belonging to Daniel Richman, a close Comey
friend and Columbia University law professor whom prosecutors see as a
central player in any potential case against the former FBI director.
Prosecutors moved Tuesday to quash that order, calling Richman’s request
for the return of his files a “strategic tool to obstruct the
investigation and potential prosecution.” They said the judge had
overstepped her bounds by ordering Richman’s property returned to him
and said the ruling had impeded their ability to proceed with a case
against Comey.
_____
Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker
and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed.
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