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A veteran federal prosecutor in Virginia has informed her colleagues that she lacks confidence there is probable cause to pursue mortgage fraud 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 Trump ally who was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia last month.

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

High-Profile Dispute Between Justice Department and Trump

This case marks another major confrontation between the Justice Department and Trump, who has earlier 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 openly demanded the U.S. Attorney General to prosecute James, who led a civil fraud case against the ex-president that resulted in a half-billion dollar fine, though the ruling was later thrown out by a New York state appellate court.

Loan Fraud Claims and Inquiry

William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a staunch Trump ally, made a allegation against James to the Justice Department in April, alleging she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte cited 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 holding the position of the Attorney General of New York at the time.

Prosecutors formed a grand jury in May to investigate the matter but struggled building a case against James, even with demands from Trump allies. Emails from the time of the home purchase and other mortgage documents demonstrate James directly noting that she did not mean for the home to be her primary residence. This evidence complicates efforts for prosecutors to prove that James intentionally misled on the mortgage documents.

Recent Shake-Up in Legal Office

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 key deputy to Siebert, was also fired in late September. Michael Ben’Ary, a top national security prosecutor in the office, was removed last week after unfounded 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 stated 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 encounters in their online content that day.”