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An experienced federal prosecutor in Virginia has told her colleagues that she lacks confidence there is legal grounds to pursue mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, as reported by a source familiar with the situation.

The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who manages high-profile investigations in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, plans to soon present her finding to Lindsey Halligan, a supporter of Trump who was installed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia last month.

The Justice Department offered no statement on the matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also did not respond to a request for comment.

Significant Clash Between Department of Justice and Former President

This case represents another major confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier dismissed attorneys who declined to target his opponents. Halligan, who possesses no prosecutorial experience, was appointed to the role following pressure from Trump after her former office holder concluded there was no legal basis to file criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director.

Trump has explicitly called for the U.S. Attorney General to take legal action against James, who spearheaded a civil fraud case against the former president that resulted in a massive fine, though the ruling was afterwards reversed by a New York state appellate court.

Housing Fraud Claims and Probe

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a dedicated Trump ally, made a legal complaint against James to the Justice Department in April, alleging she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte pointed to mortgage documents related to a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James helped purchase for her niece, in which James suggested on a document that she intended to use the home as her primary residence. James was serving as the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to investigate the matter but struggled building a case against James, despite pressure from Trump allies. Emails from the time of the home purchase and further mortgage documents show James clearly indicating that she did not mean for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence complicates efforts for prosecutors to prove that James deliberately falsified on the mortgage documents.

Ongoing Shake-Up in Justice Division

Multiple prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have faced termination or left their posts in recent weeks as Trump has ramped up pressure on the office to bring charges against Comey and James.

Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, stepped down on September 19 after encountering pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a senior deputy to Siebert, was also terminated in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a top national security prosecutor in the office, was similarly dismissed last week after unfounded accusations from a pro-Trump media personality.

“The leadership is more concerned with punishing the President’s opponents than they are with defending our national security,” he stated in his farewell letter to colleagues.

“Justice for Americans harmed by our enemies should not be dependent on what someone in the Department of Justice reads in their online content that day.”