Federal grand jury declines to reindict Trump target Letitia James

A federal grand jury on Dec. 4 rejected an attempt to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, a key target of President Donald Trump’s ire, less than two weeks after a judge threw out the Trump administration’s first indictment against her.

The grand jury’s rejection of charges marks the Justice Department’s second attempt at indicting the New York attorney general whom the president has railed against in recent weeks. James brought a lawsuit against Trump in 2022.

In a statement, James slammed the attempted indictment, calling the charges against her “baseless.”

“It is time for this unchecked weaponization of our justice system to stop,” New York’s top prosecutor said in a statement. “I am grateful to the members of the grand jury and humbled by the support I have received from across the country. Now, I will continue to do my job standing up for the rule of law and the people of New York.”

After the first indictment for alleged bank fraud, Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie concluded that Attorney General Pam Bondi unlawfully appointed Lindsey Halligan, who’d previously worked as Trump’s personal lawyer, as a top prosecutor in Virginia. Since Halligan secured the indictment, it had to be dismissed, Currie ruled.

Those initial charges against James came less than three weeks after Trump said in a post on social media that James and two others — former FBI Director James Comey and California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff — were “guilty as hell” and delaying their prosecution was not an option. The post sparked concern among legal experts, as it appeared to show a president interfering in Justice Department investigations, despite a historical norm following the Nixon administration’s Watergate scandal of DOJ investigative independence from the White House.

Trump addressed the post to his attorney general, Bondi, and didn’t explainwhat alleged crimes he was referring to, but praised Halligan. Bondi installed Halligan, who had never worked as a prosecutor, within days.

Comey was charged on Sept. 25 with lying to Congress, and James was charged Oct. 9 with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. Judge Currie dismissed both indictments, basing the dismissals on the conclusion that Halligan’s appointment was invalid.

Schiff is not facing charges, but the Justice Department has also investigated him.

The three Trump targets have upset the president to the point of lashing out publicly, for different reasons.

James brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump in 2022, arguing that he had inflated the value of his assets for years to get better loan terms. A judge in that case agreed and issued a financial penalty that grew to about $500 million, including interest.

An appeals court later upheld the fraud finding but threw out the financial penalty, deeming it excessive. James’ office has appealed that ruling.

Comey led the FBI at a time when it was investigating potential contacts between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian government. He became an outspoken critic of Trump after the president fired him in 2017.

Schiff investigated Trump’s and his allies’ role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and helped lead the first impeachment of Trump, over allegations that Trump improperly pressured Ukraine’s government to investigate then-former Vice President Joe Biden.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grand jury declines to re-indict Trump target Letitia James