Overview

• A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia charged James with bank fraud and making false statements tied to a 2023 mortgage filing.
• U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan announced the indictment and described the alleged conduct as intentional crimes that violated public trust.
• The probe began after FHFA director William Pulte, a Trump appointee, alleged she misrepresented a Virginia property as her primary residence.
• James denies wrongdoing and calls the prosecution politically driven by the president’s allies, while her attorney Abbe Lowell says the mortgage entry was an error clarified elsewhere in the loan file.
• Prosecutors say each count carries a potential 30-year sentence, and the development follows separate federal charges against James Comey in Alexandria.