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A senior federal prosecutor in Virginia has advised her colleagues that she lacks confidence there is sufficient evidence to pursue mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, per a source familiar with the situation.

The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, who manages major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, intends to imminently present her conclusion to Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally who was installed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia recently.

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

Major Clash Between Department of Justice and Trump

This case represents another major confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier fired attorneys who resisted to target his political enemies. Halligan, who has no prosecutorial experience, was selected to the role following pressure from Trump after her preceding attorney concluded there was no legal basis to file criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director.

Trump has explicitly demanded the U.S. Attorney General to charge James, who spearheaded a civil fraud case against the ex-president that resulted in a massive fine, though the decision was subsequently overturned by a New York state appellate court.

Mortgage Fraud Accusations and Inquiry

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a strong Trump ally, made a legal complaint against James to the Justice Department in April, alleging she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte cited mortgage documents pertaining to a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home that James helped purchase for her niece, in which James seemed to state on a document that she meant to reside in the home as her main home. James was serving as the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors assembled a grand jury in May to examine the matter but had trouble building a case against James, notwithstanding demands from Trump allies. Electronic correspondence from the time of the home purchase and further mortgage documents demonstrate James directly noting that she did not plan 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 Justice Office

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

Erik Siebert, Halligan’s predecessor, resigned on September 19 after experiencing pressure from Trump to file charges. Maya Song, a senior deputy to Siebert, was also terminated in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a prominent national security prosecutor in the office, was similarly dismissed 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 safeguarding our national security,” he stated in his departure note to colleagues.

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