After the Department of Justice failed to convict New York Attorney General Letitia James on charges of mortgage fraud last year, the Trump administration’s federal housing chief, Bill Pulte, has filed a new criminal referral to the department — this time asking prosecutors to investigate James for insurance fraud, according to criminal referrals obtained by MS NOW.
Pulte sent the two criminal referrals to two Trump-nominated U.S. attorneys: Jason Reding Quinones of the Southern District of Florida and Andrew Boutros of the Northern District of Illinois. The referrals claim James made misrepresentations in home insurance filings with Universal Property Insurance and Allstate Insurance Company — in Florida and Illinois, respectively — about how two properties associated with her would be used.
In both referrals, Pulte referenced public social media posts made by Mike Davis, an influential, hard-line pro-Trump attorney.
Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, wrote in the Illinois criminal referral, “It appears Ms. James made representations that the house would be occupied by a single adult, with no children. Instead, according to the post, she knew the house was actually occupied by four people — three children and her niece.”
In the Florida referral, Pulte wrote that it “appears Ms. James made false representations that her property would be unoccupied five months out of the year.” He noted, however, that according to Davis, that assertion is “false.”
“The house was, in fact, occupied year-round by her niece,” Pulte added.
In September 2025, President Donald Trump posted a statement on Truth Social questioning how James had not been found guilty of a crime, though he did not specify the grounds on which she should be charged. He added in the post: “Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”
Nineteen days later, Halligan, the then-acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, presented to a grand jury the case against James over alleged mortgage fraud. The grand jury indicted James, but a federal judge later dismissed the charges after ruling that Halligan was improperly serving in her temporary capacity as acting attorney. Two other grand juries, one on Dec. 4, 2025, and another one week later on Dec. 11, 2025, failed to bring the same indictment against James. The New York attorney general’s office released a statement to MS NOW issued by James’ lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell, saying, “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. They continue this improper revenge campaign instead of helping bring down the rising cost of living in this country. These desperate tactics will fail — just as every previous attempt has failed — and exposes an Administration that has abandoned its responsibility to the American people in favor of petty political payback.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Vaughn Hillyard is a senior White House reporter for MS NOW. Recommended
