James decries Trump’s ‘weaponisation’ of the justice system after second failed try and federally prosecute her.
Printed On 5 Dec 2025
A federal grand jury has rejected prosecutors’ try and revive a felony case in opposition to New York Legal professional Basic Letitia James, after a decide beforehand threw out fees levelled in opposition to the distinguished critic of United States President Donald Trump.
The indictment on Thursday marks the Division of Justice’s second failed try and prosecute James, an elected Democrat in opposition to whom Trump had vowed retribution after her workplace introduced a civil fraud case in opposition to him and his household enterprise.
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In November, US District Choose Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed a mortgage fraud case in opposition to James after discovering that the federal prosecutor who secured the indictment, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.
James has maintained that the makes an attempt to prosecute her are blatantly political. On Thursday, she once more mentioned allegations in opposition to her had been “baseless” as she known as for the “unchecked weaponisation of our justice system to cease”.
Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, mentioned any effort to proceed the case would represent “a surprising assault on the rule of legislation and a devastating blow to the integrity of our justice system”.
“The grand jury’s refusal to re-indict Legal professional Basic James is a decisive rejection of a case that ought to by no means have existed within the first place,” Lowell mentioned in a press release.
Regardless of the grand jury’s resolution, federal prosecutors are nonetheless reportedly planning to hunt a brand new indictment in opposition to James, the Reuters information company reported, citing two unnamed sources aware of the matter.
Vows of retribution
After James’s workplace introduced the civil case in opposition to Trump, a Choose in 2024 ordered him to pay a $450m penalty after discovering he fraudulently overstated his web price to mislead lenders.
A New York state appeals court docket in August threw out the penalty however upheld the decide’s discovering that Trump was accountable for fraud.
Trump has repeatedly mentioned the case was a part of a political “witch-hunt” in opposition to him that additionally included 4 since-dropped felony instances following his first time period.
James is certainly one of three high-profile critics of Trump hit with federal felony fees in latest months, alongside former FBI director James Comey and former Trump nationwide safety adviser John Bolton.
A case in opposition to Comey, who led investigations into alleged collusion between Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign and Russia, was additionally dismissed in late November by Choose Currie, citing the identical illegal appointment of Halligan.
Bolton has pleaded not responsible to federal fees accusing him of sharing delicate authorities data with two kin and retaining “paperwork, writings, and notes” containing categorised materials.
