The Justice Department has once again failed to secure an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James, marking the third unsuccessful attempt to bring criminal charges against the Democratic attorney general.
A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, declined to indict James on Thursday, according to federal law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.
The setback follows another failed effort just last week, when prosecutors were unable to secure an indictment against James in Norfolk, Virginia.
The repeated failures come after months of pressure from President Donald Trump, who has openly targeted James following her civil fraud case against the Trump Organization.
Last month, a federal judge dismissed mortgage-related charges the Justice Department brought against James, along with unrelated charges against former FBI Director James Comey.
The judge ruled that the prosecutor handling both cases was unlawfully appointed.
That prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, had been named interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia by Trump.
After the dismissal, the Justice Department attempted to revive the case by seeking a new indictment in a different venue in Virginia.
That effort also failed.
The Justice Department has not publicly commented on the latest rejection.
James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, issued a statement claiming the Justice Department was carrying out a political vendetta on Trump’s behalf.
Lowell said the repeated rejections show the case never should have been brought and accused the department of damaging its own credibility.
Before the original charges were dismissed, James pleaded not guilty to allegations tied to a mortgage on a Norfolk property.
Prosecutors claimed James saved roughly $50 per month by declaring the home as a second residence.
James has been a frequent political adversary of Trump since she launched a civil investigation into the Trump Organization.
In that case, James accused Trump and company executives of inflating property values to secure favorable loans and insurance terms.
Trump was found liable for fraud in the civil suit.
A state appeals court later upheld the fraud finding but ruled the $464 million judgment against Trump was excessive, as NBC News reported.
Federal grand juries rarely refuse to indict because the process heavily favors prosecutors.
At the grand jury stage, prosecutors need only convince 12 of at least 16 jurors that probable cause exists.
That threshold is far lower than the standard required to secure a conviction at trial.
Justice Department policy generally discourages prosecutors from bringing cases unless they believe a conviction is likely.
In this case, career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia reportedly believed the evidence against James was too weak to move forward.
Those concerns led the Justice Department to bring in out-of-state prosecutors to pursue the charges.
Trump’s own nominee to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in the district, Erik Siebert, ultimately resigned amid pressure from the White House to prosecute James.
Despite the repeated failures, the Justice Department has not indicated whether it plans to attempt yet another indictment.
