
New York Attorney General’s office has hired prominent attorney Abe Lowell to defend Attorney General Letitia James against mortgage fraud allegations levied against her.
The office confirmed it had hired Lowell, a white-collar defense and trial attorney who recently defended former First Son Hunter Biden in his weapons case. Lowell has defended a number of additional high-profile figures on both sides of the political aisle, including former Senator Bob Menendez, Bill Clinton, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
In a six-page letter Lowell sent Thursday to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, he accused President Donald J. Trump of seeking to weaponize the Justice Department by targeting James as part of a “political retribution” campaign over her dubious civil fraud case she brought against the president and the Trump Organization.
James — who campaigned on targeting the president when first running for office — was recently accused of mortgage fraud by the Trump Administration and referred to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution.
She is accused of listing a Virginia property she purchased in 2023 as her “principal residence” despite serving as attorney general of New York at the time. New York requires its attorneys general to live in the state for five years before running for office, and requires them to reside there during their tenure, the New York Post noted.
A document involving power of attorney for the Virginia purchase, which was reviewed by the outlet, was signed by James and appears to validate the allegation made by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte. “I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence,” the post reads.
NEW YORK, N.Y. – November 3, 2022: New York Attorney General Letitia James addresses a campaign rally at Barnard College in New York City.
The letter further revealed that James previously purchased a Brooklyn home in 2001, but has “consistently misrepresented the same property as only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications,” Pulte noted. This could have allowed James to receive a lower mortgage rate and led to lower payments under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
In his letter to Attorney General Bondi, Lowell accused the Trump Administration of targeting James and disputed the validity of the records in question.
“The stunning hypocrisy of President Trump’s complaint that the Justice Department had been ‘politicized’ and ‘weaponized’ against him is laid bare as he and others in his administration are now asking you to undertake the very same practice,” Lowell wrote. “This so-called ‘criminal referral,’ which recycles long-disproven allegations and is ‘(b)ased on media reports’ lacks any credible foundation.”
It is unclear whether taxpayer funds will be used for James’ legal and did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News about how Lowell will be paid. Lowell will be representing James as a private citizen, not as part of Winston & Strawn LLP, where he is a partner, the outlet noted.