A federal grand jury has once again blocked the Justice Department’s effort to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James, deepening the collapse of a case that has hovered over one of Donald Trump’s most persistent political adversaries. The decision, delivered on Thursday, follows an earlier ruling in which a federal judge threw out the same charges after finding that the prosecutor behind the indictment had been improperly appointed.
The failed attempt marks the second time the Department of Justice has tried and failed to pursue James, a Democrat who rose to national prominence after bringing a civil fraud suit against Trump and the Trump Organization. Trump has long accused her of political persecution and promised payback, a threat that has hung in the background as federal investigators repeatedly targeted her.
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed the initial mortgage fraud case in November, ruling that Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor who presented the charges, lacked lawful authority to do so. That finding alone gutted the government’s case, but prosecutors pushed for another indictment anyway, only for the grand jury to rebuff the request.
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James, who has consistently called the accusations politically motivated, reiterated that stance on Thursday. She said the claims against her were “baseless” and urged an end to what she described as the escalating misuse of prosecutorial power. Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, issued an even sharper warning, calling any continued pursuit “a shocking assault on the rule of law” that would do lasting damage to public trust.
Even with the grand jury’s refusal, prosecutors are reportedly preparing another attempt at bringing charges, according to Reuters, citing individuals familiar with the deliberations.
The conflict unfolds against a broader backdrop of legal warfare surrounding Trump’s critics. James is one of three high-profile figures recently pulled into federal cases. Former FBI director James Comey, who oversaw investigations into Trump’s 2016 campaign, saw his charges tossed last month for the same reason: Halligan’s appointment lacked legal grounding. Former national security adviser John Bolton still faces accusations of sharing sensitive information with relatives and keeping classified notes, charges he has denied.
All of this comes as Trump continues to cast the fraud case against him as a political vendetta, even after an appeals court overturned his four hundred fifty million dollar penalty but upheld the core finding that he committed fraud.