A federal grand jury in Alexandria on Thursday refused to indict former New York Attorney General Letitia James for a second time, dealing a rare public setback to the Justice Department’s effort to revive criminal charges, CBS News reports.
Prosecutors had re-presented James’s mortgage-fraud case after a judge threw out the original indictment, but jurors declined to bring charges again. Sources reveal that the Justice Department is weighing a third attempt, possibly before a grand jury in Richmond, Virginia.
Grand Jury Refuses To Indict Letitia James In Another Blow To DOJ’s Effort To Revive Case https://t.co/eDItefvmGA
— ᴄʜʀɪsᴛᴏᴘʜᴇʀ ᴀʀɴᴇʟʟ (@MrChrisArnell) December 11, 2025
“For the second time in seven days, the Department of Justice has failed in its clear attempt to fulfill President Trump’s political vendetta against Attorney General James,” James’s attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement. She added that another attempt to press the case “would be a mockery of our system of justice.”
“This unprecedented rejection makes even clearer that this case should never have seen the light of day,” Lowell continued. In her opinion, she stated, that the case was “a stain on this Department’s reputation and raises troubling questions about its integrity.”
🚨🚨BREAKING NEWS 🚨
🇺🇸 Grand Jury Twice Rejects DOJ Case Against Letitia James
Two strikes, still no indictment.
A second federal grand jury in Virginia has refused to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud. This is another failure for the Justice… https://t.co/aB8nmaNEOe pic.twitter.com/IHnjKRZERp
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The decision to decline was striking because grand juries virtually always return indictments when prosecutors ask them to do so. Justice Department figures show that in fiscal 2016 prosecutors reported failing to get an indictment only six times out of more than 150,000 arrests. CBS notes that making repeated rejections highly unusual.
The case stems from charges filed in October accusing James of falsifying mortgage paperwork in 2020 by misrepresenting a property as a second home rather than an investment, which prosecutors say produced a lower mortgage rate. A federal judge tossed that original indictment last month after finding that the interim U.S. attorney who led the case, Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully appointed to her post, CNN and ABC reported.
The short-lived criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey for one count of false statement and one count of obstruction is dead and appears unlikely to be revived. So it seems a decent time to ask:
Did we get what we wanted out of the James Comey case?
Well, it… pic.twitter.com/Dtau0LnC2r
— Just Human (@realjusthuman) December 9, 2025
That ruling also wiped out an indictment against former FBI director James Comey on similar procedural grounds, raising further questions about the Justice Department’s path forward, Politico reports. The court’s decision centered on the legality of Halligan’s appointment after turmoil in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia, including the abrupt resignation of the prior U.S. attorney.
Prosecutors moved the case to Alexandria after a Norfolk grand jury initially declined to indict James last week. Federal prosecutors can seek indictments in different districts if they believe a new presentation will secure a grand jury vote. DOJ officials have not publicly commented on the grand jury decisions.
James has denied wrongdoing and has called the probe politically motivated. Her lawyers have argued the prosecution amounts to “vindictive prosecution” and have pointed to statements from President Donald Trump urging scrutiny of James on social media as evidence of improper political pressure. There is no love lost between Trump and James, dating to her civil suit that produced a multibillion-dollar judgment against him and the Trump Organization.
Legal experts say repeated grand jury refusals could signal weaknesses in the government’s case or trouble persuading jurors based on the evidence presented. CNN quoted legal analysts saying such rejections are rare and embarrassing for prosecutors because grand juries typically follow the government’s lead when probable cause appears strong.
If prosecutors try in Richmond, the next move will test whether the government can assemble evidence that persuades jurors to return an indictment.
