Overview
- Prosecutors re-presented the mortgage-fraud case just 10 days after Judge Cameron McGowan Currie set aside the original indictment over Lindsey Halligan’s invalid appointment.
- The Justice Department declined to comment on the secret proceedings, and sources said a third attempt to seek charges remains possible.
- Prosecutors allege James secured a better rate by designating a 2020 Norfolk property as a second home rather than an investment, a difference estimated at about $18,933 over the life of the loan; she has denied wrongdoing.
- Career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia had opposed bringing charges, Erik Siebert resigned under pressure, and President Donald Trump publicly pressed for prosecutions of James and other critics.
- The same appointment ruling also voided charges against James Comey, and any renewed effort faces additional hurdles, including statute-of-limitations issues in his case.