Photo: Natasha Moustache / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
The Trump administration has escalated its legal pursuit of New York Attorney General Letitia James, with President Trump's top housing official issuing two new criminal referrals targeting the state's top law enforcement officer on Wednesday.
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, sent the referrals to the Department of Justice — one to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and another to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. According to CNN, both referrals allege "suspected homeowners insurance fraud."
The first referral claims James may have defrauded Allstate, an Illinois-based insurer, when she submitted a homeowners insurance application for a property she owns in Norfolk, Virginia. The second referral alleges she may have done the same on an application submitted to Universal Property Insurance, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company. Both referrals cite posts on X by Mike Davis, a longtime Trump legal adviser.
The allegations center on the same Virginia property that was at the heart of an earlier federal case against James. As reported by The Guardian, that prior case collapsed after a judge ruled that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan had been unlawfully appointed. Prosecutors failed twice to convince a grand jury to indict James on those earlier charges.
James was first indicted in October 2025 on one count of making false statements to a financial institution and one count of bank fraud. She pleaded not guilty to both charges. The case was dismissed after the judge found that Halligan's appointment was invalid.
A Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed to CNN that "the Department of Justice can confirm that referrals were received by our U.S. Attorney Offices."
James's attorney, Abbe Lowell, pushed back sharply on the new referrals, calling them politically motivated. "Frustrated by repeated failures, where judges and grand juries have rejected their attempts to charge Attorney General James, Trump and his political enablers keep abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her by trying to rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations," Lowell said in a statement. Lowell added that the administration should be "helping bring down the rising cost of living in this country" rather than continuing what he called an "improper revenge campaign."
The new referrals come amid a broader pattern of the Trump administration using the Justice Department to investigate political opponents, according to The Guardian, which has noted the unprecedented nature of the department's actions against figures including former FBI director James Comey, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
James and the Trump administration have a long and contentious history. Her office won a $450 million civil judgment against President Trump and his sons in 2024 for fraud. A five-judge appeals panel later tossed the financial penalties, and James's office is now appealing to have the penalty reinstated. The New York Times has also reported that federal prosecutors are separately investigating James's financial transactions with her hairdresser, who faces criminal charges for bank fraud and identity theft in Louisiana.
It remains to be seen whether federal prosecutors in Illinois or Florida will choose to pursue new charges based on Pulte's referrals.
Photo Credit: Getty Images