Ethics complaint against Letitia James calls for NY state courts to investigate Trump admin fraud claims

New York Attorney General Letitia James is the subject of a new state-level ethics complaint filed by pro-Trump legal nonprofit America First Legal (AFL).

The AFL complaint filed last week adds to the recent woes for James, who's also facing a criminal referral from the Trump administration related to accusations of mortgage fraud.

"For a state prosecutor who has maligned the President of the United States for political gain, public accountability will serve as a cure to Letitia James’ endless lawfare and abuse of power," AFL Vice President Dan Epstein said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The complaint was filed with the New York State Unified Court System's Committee on Professional Standards, the state-level entity that handles discipline matters for attorneys whose principal office is in the Albany region. The complaint requests that the attorney grievance committee open an investigation into James over accusations of mortgage fraud levied against her earlier this month by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

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Those accusations were published in a criminal referral sent earlier this month to the Department of Justice by FHFA Director William Pulte. In the referral, Pulte accused James of falsifying mortgage records to obtain more favorable loans. 

"If what Director Pulte uncovered is true, then we have a sitting state Attorney General who made false certifications to the United States in return for federal benefits," Epstein said.

James' actions violate the New York State Bar Association's rules of professional conduct, according to AFL's complaint. NYSBA later clarified the rules posted on its site and cited by AFL were developed by the state court system, not them. NYSBA told Fox News Digital that the group provides them on its website "as a convenience" for its voluntary membership but reiterated that it does not have the authority to "discipline" anyone. 

The rules prohibit lawyers from engaging in "illegal conduct" that can adversely impact the lawyer's honesty and trustworthiness. They also bar conduct that may not be deemed "illegal," but that involves dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. 

Meanwhile, amid the allegations of fraud against James, the New York Attorney General's Office has hired high-powered attorney Abbe Lowell to defend her.

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Local reporting from the Times Union said the attorney general's office indicated the decision to hire Lowell was, in part, based on their allegation that the Trump administration is pushing a politically motivated criminal referral in response to James bringing a civil case against Donald Trump last year for allegedly inflating asset values to obtain favorable loans.

"I’m always amazed at the rank hypocrisy of politicians who are quick to accuse others of what they’re guilty of doing themselves," Fox News legal analyst Greg Jarrett said. "James famously intoned to Trump that ‘no one is above the law' and that he was ultimately responsible legally for documents prepared by others. 

"Unlike Trump, James is a lawyer. She knew or should have known, better than a lay person, that those documents were inaccurate and apparently false. She’s on record stating that accuracy in such financial records is essential and must be strictly enforced."

When reached for comment, the attorney general's office directed Fox News Digital to Lowell's response letter to the FHFA's criminal referral.

In his letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Lowell called the referral against James "the latest act of improper political retribution" from Trump.

"The stunning hypocrisy of President Trump’s complaint that the Justice Department had been ‘politicized’ and ‘weaponized’ against him is laid bare as he and others in his administration are now asking you to undertake the very same practice," Lowell wrote.

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Lowell also disputed some of the allegations, including that James listed a home in Virginia as her primary residence while serving as a state official in New York. According to Lowell, James had no intention of using the property as a primary residence, and her indication of this in a power-of-attorney letter was a mistake. Lowell pointed out there were other documents where James indicated to her lender that the Virginia home would not be her primary residence. 

A second accusation of fraud against James accuses her of inflating the number of livable units in a multifamily Brooklyn residence to receive better interest rates. Lowell, however, alleges that Pulte is disregarding updated documentation listing the residence as a four-unit multifamily residence, and instead pointing to a certificate of occupancy from 2001.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the New York State Unified Court System handling the AFL's bar complaint to inquire about potential next steps and disciplinary actions but did not receive a response by publication time.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the New York State Bar Association, but the group declined to comment, citing the fact the N.Y. courts system is the body that handles attorney discipline and will be the entity adjudicating AFL's complaint.