The FBI in Albany has opened a formal criminal investigation examining the real estate and mortgage transactions of New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to law enforcement sources briefed on the matter.
John A. Sarcone III, is appointed by Pam Bondi to be the new U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York. He is expected to take office as interim U.S. Attorney March 17 pending confirmation. (Credit: public domain)
It’s unclear why U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi steered the referral to New York’s Northern District; although James is a statewide elected official with offices in Albany, the transactions involve her personal property purchases and loans that were processed in New York City and Virginia. Some of the transactions also may fall outside the federal statute of limitations. However, one of the mortgages involves James’ assertions in loan documents related to her 2023 purchase of a residence in Norfolk, Virginia.
One of the mortgage documents filed in connection with James’ purchase of the single-family residence — a notarized power-of-attorney document — was signed as a witness by Jennifer Levy, who is the first deputy attorney general. A spokesman for James did not immediately respond to a question about why Levy would have been asked to sign a document related to the attorney general’s purchase of a private residence.
That document, which James also signed, stated: “I hereby declare that I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence.”
Under state law, James’ principal residence as a statewide elected official must be in New York.
“This is being handled at this time by main (Department of) Justice and the Albany FBI field office,” said U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III, who oversees the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York’s Northern District. “We stand prepared to act in the capacity that we need to when and if we are informed there’s a charge to be made. Unlike Letitia James, who unethically ran around the state campaigning on getting Donald Trump… my office conducts itself in a manner that is proper and professional.”
(…) The Times Union has reported that the documents of her property transactions, some dating to 1983, have been circulated since last year to various news outlets and elected officials by a man using a fictitious name. He had claimed that he was part of a “group” that had begun delving into James’ property records after a friend had committed suicide while under investigation by the attorney general’s office for mortgage fraud.
(…) The documents apparently made their way to William J. Pulte, director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, who sent a referral letter last month to Bondi alleging that James may have “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.”