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An experienced federal prosecutor in Virginia has told her colleagues that she does not believe there is probable cause to pursue fraudulent mortgage charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, per a source acquainted with the situation.

The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who oversees major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, intends to soon present her conclusion to Lindsey Halligan, a ally of the former president who was installed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in the previous month.

The Justice Department offered no statement 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 DOJ and Former President

This case signals another major confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has previously removed attorneys who refused to prosecute his opponents. Halligan, who lacks any prosecutorial experience, was selected to the role at the urging of Trump after her former office holder concluded there was no probable cause to file criminal charges against James Comey, the ex- FBI director.

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

Housing Fraud Allegations and Probe

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a dedicated Trump ally, made a allegation against James to the Justice Department in April, asserting she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte pointed to mortgage documents associated with a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James supported the acquisition of for her niece, in which James seemed to state on a document that she planned to occupy the home as her principal dwelling. James was holding the position of the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to examine the matter but had trouble building a case against James, despite urging from Trump allies. Messages from the time of the home purchase and other mortgage documents show James explicitly stating that she did not mean for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence poses a challenge for prosecutors to prove that James deliberately falsified on the mortgage documents.

Recent Turnover in Justice Division

Multiple prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have been dismissed or stepped down in recent weeks as Trump has ramped up pressure on the office to bring charges against Comey and James.

Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, left his position on September 19 after experiencing pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a senior deputy to Siebert, was also fired in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a leading national security prosecutor in the office, was removed last week after false accusations from a pro-Trump media personality.

“The leadership is focused with punishing the President’s perceived enemies than they are with defending our national security,” he expressed in his farewell letter to colleagues.

“Justice for Americans killed and injured by our enemies should not be contingent on what someone in the Department of Justice sees in their online content that day.”