For the second time in recent days, a federal grand jury in Virginia refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud, marking another setback for the Department of Justice.

Just last week, a grand jury in Virginia refused to file new mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a thorn in President Donald Trump's side, thwarting the federal government's efforts to advance the case. This time, the grand jury rejected the Justice Department's attempt to refile the case after a federal judge dismissed a previous case based on the illegal appointment of the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. On Thursday, federal prosecutors failed to convince a majority of grand juries to approve charges that James deceived a bank to obtain favorable loan terms on a home mortgage, according to sources. The charges were presented to a grand jury in the Alexandria branch of the Eastern District of Virginia after a grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, rejected the charges last week. “This unprecedented rejection makes it even clearer that this case should never have seen the light of day,” James's attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “Career prosecutors, with greater knowledge, declined to bring it, and now two grand juries in two different cities have refused to allow these baseless charges to be brought. Any further attempt to revive these discredited charges would be a mockery of our justice system.” Prosecutors have alleged that James, who successfully brought a civil fraud case against then-candidate Donald Trump last year, falsely listed a house he bought in 2020 as a second home rather than an investment property to potentially save $19,000 over the life of the loan with a more favorable mortgage rate.