ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James are set to argue Thursday that the bank fraud charges against the Empire State’s top lawyer should be tossed because President Trump’s handpicked prosecutor Lindsey Halligan is illegitimate.
James was charged with federal criminal charges of bank fraud and making false claims to a financial institution that allegedly netted her $19,000 in savings for a loan on a second home.
She has pleaded not guilty and her lawyers are slated to duke it out in Alexandria federal court with prosecutors about the case’s legitimacy because of the allegations that Halligan — the interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — was unlawfully installed in her position by the Trump administration.
Halligan, a former pageant queen who practiced insurance law, was on Trump’s legal team and worked in the White House before her appointment as interim US Attorney.
James’ team claims Attorney General Pam Bondi didn’t have the authority to appoint Halligan to the temporary seat because Bondi already used up her one 120-day temporary appointment on Halligan’s predecessor.
Any new appointment to the prosecutorial post would have to be made with the advice of Congress, James’ side had argued.
But the lawyers for the government have claimed Bondi can appoint multiple people to the vacant seat so long as they only remain in office for 120 days. The feds have argued the prosecution against James is legitimate and public officials must be held to a higher standard.
James is accused of buying a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home in Norfolk on Aug. 17, 2020, using a $109,600 loan. On a home ride, James allegedly said she would be the “sole borrower to occupy and use the property,” when in reality her grandniece lived there and paid rent, the feds claim.
James faces up to 60 years behind bars and $2 million fine if convicted on both counts.
Read the full article here
