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A senior federal prosecutor in Virginia has told her colleagues that she finds no basis there is legal grounds to pursue fraudulent mortgage charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who supervises significant prosecutions in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, plans to imminently present her conclusion to Lindsey Halligan, a supporter of Trump who was installed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia recently.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also did not return a request for comment.

Major Dispute Between Justice Department and Former President

This case represents another notable confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier removed attorneys who resisted to target his opponents. Halligan, who possesses no prosecutorial experience, was named to the role following pressure from Trump after her former office holder concluded there was insufficient evidence to file criminal charges against James Comey, the ex- FBI director.

Trump has publicly demanded the U.S. Attorney General to prosecute James, who headed a civil fraud case against the president that resulted in a half-billion dollar fine, though the judgment was subsequently reversed by a New York state appellate court.

Mortgage Fraud Accusations and Investigation

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a staunch Trump ally, made a legal complaint against James to the Justice Department in April, asserting she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte pointed to mortgage documents pertaining to a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James helped purchase for her niece, in which James suggested on a document that she planned to occupy the home as her main home. James was acting as the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors convened a grand jury in May to investigate the matter but faced difficulties building a case against James, even with urging from Trump allies. Emails from the time of the home purchase and additional mortgage documents show James directly noting that she did not mean for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence makes it difficult for prosecutors to prove that James knowingly lied on the mortgage documents.

Recent Shake-Up in Legal Office

Multiple prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have been dismissed or left their posts in recent weeks as Trump has escalated pressure on the office to bring charges against Comey and James.

Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, stepped down on September 19 after facing pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a key deputy to Siebert, was also dismissed in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a prominent national security prosecutor in the office, was removed last week after unfounded accusations from a pro-Trump media personality.

“The leadership is focused with targeting the President’s political foes than they are with defending our national security,” he wrote in his final message to colleagues.

“Justice for Americans affected by our enemies should not be contingent on what someone in the Department of Justice reads in their digital platforms that day.”