A high-level prosecutor in Virginia is refusing to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, claiming that she is "resisting intense pressure" from President Donald Trump. That decision by Elizabeth Yusi, who serves as a prosecutor and supervisor in the DOJ's Norfolk office, will no doubt put her in direct conflict with Attorney General Pam Bondi and newly-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan.
James is being investigated for committing mortgage fraud on multiple occasions over a period of several decades. The allegations include claiming her father as her husband and misrepresenting the number of units in a property to receive a lower interest rate.
SEE: Anti-Trump AG and Resistance Hero Letitia James Facing Federal Criminal Referral
A top prosecutor in Virginia has informed colleagues she plans to decline to seek charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, resisting intense pressure from President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with her discussions.
Elizabeth Yusi, who oversees major criminal prosecutions in the Norfolk office of the Eastern District of Virginia, has confided to co-workers that she sees no probable cause to believe James engaged in mortgage fraud, the two sources told MSNBC. Yusi plans to present her conclusion to the president’s new interim U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, in the coming weeks, they said.
I'm going to speak as a layman here, mostly because I am one, but also because I think public perception matters in this case. It certainly matters insofar as Republicans feel like the system is perpetually rigged against them.
With that said, I don't know all the ins and outs of exactly what the evidence is here. I do know that documents exist showing James misrepresented her mortgages. Naturally, she denies having any criminal intent, which would be required in this case. Of course, one might argue that three separate instances stretching back decades offer something toward establishing intent. After all, if a signed confession were required to prove intent, no one would ever be found guilty of fraud.
In a vacuum, I understand the aversion by prosecutors to being forced into charging someone, but where was this extreme conservatism regarding charging decisions under Joe Biden? Some of the cases pursued with vigor by these career prosecutors, specifically targeting those in Trump's orbit, were arguably weaker than the James case. That leaves Republicans rightfully feeling like this sudden bout of "independence" is just a bit too convenient.
We all get that the prevailing opinion of most career bureaucrats, including within the DOJ, is that the orange man is bad. But the orange man being bad should not be the deciding factor in whether another person gets away with mortgage fraud, or, in the case of James Comey, lying to Congress. It certainly seems like there's enough evidence against Letitia James to at least put the decision before a grand jury. Having a prosecutor decide on her own to shut things down is going to lead to justified skepticism about what's really going on.
I suspect Yusi, if she indeed declines to bring charges, won't be long for her job. Whether one is comfortable with it or not, the second Trump administration is hellbent on pushing back against double standards within the justice system. That means seeing Democrats prosecuted in ways they so gleefully prosecuted their political opponents over the preceding decade.
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