The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James following a referral from a former federal housing official under the Trump administration, Fox News has confirmed.

A source familiar with the matter said a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has issued subpoenas related to allegations that James misrepresented a property in Virginia as her primary residence in order to obtain more favorable loan terms.

The probe is reportedly also examining a separate claim that James inaccurately listed the number of livable units in a Brooklyn property, allegedly to secure another favorable loan.

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The criminal referral was made by William Pulte, then-Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who requested that the Justice Department investigate both incidents.

According to Pulte, James claimed a single-family residence in Virginia was her primary home despite serving in public office in New York.

In the second case, she allegedly overstated the number of livable units in a multifamily property located in Brooklyn.

James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, responded to the investigation in a statement Thursday, characterizing the claims as politically motivated and previously addressed.

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“These baseless and long-discredited allegations, put to rest by my April 24 letter to the Department of Justice, are suddenly back in the news just days after President Trump publicly attacked Attorney General James,” Lowell said.

Lowell further stated, “This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch. If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.”

Following the referral, Lowell sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ, accusing President Trump of leveraging the Justice Department for political retaliation.

In the letter, Lowell cited past statements by the president targeting James and referenced public calls for accountability.

James has been a prominent legal adversary of President Trump, participating in multiple lawsuits against his administration during his first term in office.

Most notably, she led the civil case against Trump and the Trump Organization, alleging they falsified business records to receive favorable loan terms.

A judge ultimately ordered Trump to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties, although the ruling is currently under appeal.

In his letter, Lowell argued that Trump’s prior claims about a politicized Justice Department are contradicted by the current investigation.

“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,” he wrote.

Lowell also addressed the specific allegations in detail.

Regarding the Virginia property, he acknowledged that James signed a power-of-attorney document suggesting the home was to be used as a primary residence, but claimed this was an error.

He added that other lender documents made clear the home was not intended to be James’ primary residence.

As for the Brooklyn property, James is accused of inflating the number of livable units to receive lower loan rates.

Lowell argued that Pulte ignored more recent documentation that listed the residence as a four-unit multifamily dwelling, instead focusing on a certificate of occupancy dated from 2001.

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