by Ceffer follow (6)
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Yesterday, the New York Times ran a story dripping with Schaudenfreude headlined, “Trump Official Scrutinizes N.Y.’s Attorney General Over Real Estate.” The sub-headline explained, “The head of a U.S. housing agency told prosecutors that Letitia James appeared to have falsified real estate records, a move that could be the start of an investigation.”
For the benefit of Portland readers, Letitia James is the New York State Attorney General —Heaven only knows why New Yorkers elected her— who in 2022 sued President Trump for allegedly falsifying his mortgage applications by overvaluing (in her opinion) his real estate holdings. With timely assistance from wispy-haired judge Arthur Engoran, she ultimately won and obtained the largest civil judgment ever levied against an individual person. (The case remains on appeal.)
But now the proverbial worm has turned, and is tunnelling into the Attorney General’s own mortgage applications.
You would think that any puffed-up prosecutor with two brain cells to rub together who was thinking about suing one of the most popular former presidents in history, would make absolutely sure her own record was completely spotless and unassailable, especially for the exact same thing she was thinking about prosecuting the former president for.
You would think, wouldn’t you?
Anyway, this particular dedicated public servant owns a bunch of investment property in New York, not on any Trump scale, but she’s doing very well for a career in government. Her net worth seems to be somewhere between $10M — $15M, and her disclosed investment real estate holdings are around $4M (her values, so presumably on the low side. She wouldn’t overvalue them, right?).
I could find no meaningly explanations for how James got wealthy. She makes $220K as State AG. I guess the sanctimonious prosecutor is a much better investor than she is an attorney general. Just like the rest of them.
Anyway, this week, Trump’s Housing Director, Bill Pulte, flagged some of James’ mortgage transactions and sent them to Pam Bondi at DOJ as a criminal referral. Among other things, in various loan applications, James allegedly claimed: to be married to her father (I’m not making that up), to be under financial duress from covid, to reside in the house shown above as her principal residence, and was, shall we say, generous with various facts related to the properties like how many units there were.
All those claims seem clearly intended to get better interest rates, the very same type of public injury she’d alleged against President Trump, since fraudulently-obtained interest rates increase everyone else’s rates, or so she’d successfully argued to Judge Engoran.
Director Pulte’s criminal referral helpfully suggested various criminal charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements to a financial institution (the same charge levied against Trump), among others.
The obsequious Times sprang to her defense. It was just mistakes! Anyone could make them! She said them correctly on her other documents! Yes, yes, calm down Gray Lady, the pompous AG will get a chance to explain all that to the court. Just like Trump got a chance to explain why he picked the values he did, and like how the banks got a chance to testify that they were fine with his values.
Of course, one could argue that her different answers on different documents just makes things that much worse, but hey, I’m a lawyer, not… oh wait, this is lawyer territory. Yeah, it looks bad.
It’s wonderfully ironic and consistent with our theme of Nemesis, and delightfully in line with the Times’s obsession with its “revenge” narrative (even though Trump didn’t personally make the referral). But so far as we know, no criminal investigation has yet been opened by DOJ. We wait with hopeful expectation to find out what happens next.
The FBI and US Attorney’s Office in Albany have launched a criminal investigation into mortgage fraud claims against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a source familiar with the probe told The Post.
The strange Letitia James saga got weirder yesterday, when the Daily Mail ran a story headlined, “Letitia James’ family secret exposes damaging problem for law enforcer.” You’ll never guess who the state’s top prosecutor was stashing at the house at the center of the grand jury’s inquiry. Many have wondered how a liberal grand jury indicted such a high-profile progressive darling. It’s because it was ugly.
As a reminder for Portland readers, Ms. James is New York’s State Attorney General —its “top cop”— who campaigned for that office on a platform of “getting Trump,” and then did prosecute Trump, for overestimating real estate values on loans that he paid back on time, with interest. Last week, federal officials indicted James for mortgage fraud, for flat-out lying on her own loan application about using a property she bought in 2020 as her primary residence (to get a lower interest rate).
The Grand Jury saw tax records showing Ms. James reported rental income from the Virginia home. But, according to the Mail, James’ grandniece Nakia Thompson, 36, testified to the Grand Jury that she’d lived there since 2020, rent-free, with her three kids. That complicated things a smidge, suggesting possible tax fraud, but it got even worse when the papers checked public records and social media to find out who Nakia was, exactly.
“Nikki” is a serial criminal offender currently wanted in North Carolina for failing to complete probation. Over the years, she’s been charged with a law-school inventory of various crimes (some subsequently dismissed), including: assault & battery, assault against a government official, trespassing, petit larceny, grand larceny, possession of marijuana, possession of burglary tools, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and over a dozen traffic violations of various kinds.
Anyway, Nikki is apparently such a scofflaw that her family even cracks jokes and makes memes about her criminal history. The Mail helpfully reprinted one homemade meme depicting Nikki splattered with blood and the caption, “Nik-Nak’s Crime- GRAND LARCENY.” Another post was a picture of a marijuana leaf under the title: “Never underestimate the wisdom of a stoner.”
Also, never underestimate the stupidity of a stoner. No offense, stoners. Just saying.
The gist, or nub, is that it’s kind of a bad look for the top law enforcement officer in the State of New York to be harboring a criminal relative. One is tempted toward a certain degree of sympathy, since Ms. James was obviously providing for several generations of her extended family.
But alas, Ms. James holds the wrong job to be harboring criminals, even if they’re relatives, since James’s first responsibility is bringing criminals to justice. Not overseeing a miniature Biden crime family.
Lying on mortgage applications about using the house as her personal residence while also planning the political prosecution of a popular former president —a courageous undertaking that virtually guarantees blowback— demonstrates a stoner’s wisdom. Part of the guaranteed blowback James should have expected was being given a financial rectal exam.
Since Nikki testified she lives in James’s house for free, one naturally wonders about the source of Ms. James’ declared rental income. And then, one suspects that rental income must have come from a government program of some kind.
So … maybe jam welfare fraud onto the list as well. In that light, one’s sympathy about James’s family stewardship begins to shrivel. It looks more like James bought a property with almost nothing down, falsely claimed it as her personal residence, then installed her indigent grand-niece so that the house would qualify for low-income assistance— paying off her house using rental income derived from taxpayers and perhaps even scoring a profit.
In other words: the whole thing was a scam. Shocking, I know.
Anyway, it begins to look once again like the Trump team brilliantly chose James to be one of the first targets for the growing Storm of indictments. As the facts of James’s case get uglier and murkier, the AG’s political defenders will probably dry up and vanish.
As the facts of James’s case get uglier and murkier, the AG’s political defenders will probably dry up and vanish.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is appearing in federal court on Friday morning to be arraigned on a two-count indictment alleging bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution.
The charges stem from her 2020 purchase of a second home in Norfolk, Virginia.
Prosecutors say James, a career Democrat, misrepresented the nature of the property to secure more favorable loan terms.
"New York AG says Trump Organization under active criminal investigation"
https://www.rt.com/usa/524189-trump-organization-criminal-probe/