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A veteran federal prosecutor in Virginia has advised her colleagues that she does not believe there is probable cause 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 oversees significant prosecutions in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, plans to soon present her assessment to Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally who was placed 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 respond to a request for comment.

High-Profile Confrontation Between Justice Department and Former President

This case represents another major confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has in the past dismissed attorneys who declined to target his political enemies. Halligan, who possesses no prosecutorial experience, was named to the role following pressure from Trump after her preceding attorney concluded there was insufficient evidence to file criminal charges against James Comey, the ex- FBI director.

Trump has explicitly urged the U.S. Attorney General to prosecute James, who spearheaded a civil fraud case against the former president that resulted in a $500 million fine, though the ruling was later reversed by a New York state appellate court.

Housing Fraud Claims 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 associated with a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James helped purchase for her niece, in which James appeared to indicate on a document that she planned to occupy the home as her principal dwelling. James was acting as the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to investigate the matter but had trouble building a case against James, even with demands from Trump allies. Emails from the time of the home purchase and further mortgage documents show James directly noting that she did not plan for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence complicates efforts for prosecutors to prove that James deliberately falsified on the mortgage documents.

Recent Changes in Justice Office

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

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

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

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