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 criminal case in opposition to New York Legal professional Basic Letitia James, after a choose beforehand threw out costs levelled in opposition to the outstanding 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 Decide 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 referred to 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 stunning 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 an announcement.
Regardless of the grand jury’s determination, 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 conversant in the matter.
Vows of retribution
After James’s workplace introduced the civil case in opposition to Trump, a Decide in 2024 ordered him to pay a $450m penalty after discovering he fraudulently overstated his web value to mislead lenders.
A New York state appeals courtroom in August threw out the penalty however upheld the choose’s discovering that Trump was answerable 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 legal instances following his first time period.
James is considered one of three high-profile critics of Trump hit with federal legal costs 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 Decide Currie, citing the identical illegal appointment of Halligan.
Bolton has pleaded not responsible to federal charges accusing him of sharing delicate authorities data with two kin and retaining “paperwork, writings, and notes” containing labeled materials.
