“Hoist by your own petard”: being harmed or defeated by your own schemes or plans, especially those intended to harm others.
Letitia James is the Attorney General of the State of New York. And, as Attorney General, she has made it her key effort – her overriding obsession – to “get” Donald Trump. She makes no bones about this.
Except she apparently is now on the hook for criminal activities – including civil fraud, which – the irony here is delicious – is exactly what she accused and got a judgment against Donald Trump for.
From Kate Plummer’s article for Newsweek, via msn.com:
New York Attorney General Letitia James has been accused of mortgage fraud.
In a letter, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) referred James, a Democrat who has served as the state attorney general since 2019 to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, alleging she falsified records to obtain a mortgage in 2023.
FHFA Director William J. Pulte said James claimed on a mortgage application in 2023 that a house in Norfolk, Virginia, was her primary residence, despite her position requiring New York residency.
The 1,450-square-foot single-family home in Norfolk was built in 1947 and has three bedrooms and one bathroom, per the deed. It was purchased for $240,000, with a $219,780 mortgage.
Pulte also claimed that she falsely stated the number of units in a Brooklyn property she owns by saying it had four units, not five, in 2021. He also claimed that James purchased another property with her father as co-signer but listed them as husband and wife in 1983 and 2000.
Pulte alleges wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution.
“Ms. James, for both properties listed above, appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms,” Pulte wrote in his letter.
I’m no lawyer. But it seems self-evident to me that the illegality of these actions is indisputable.
The only issue here is whether she actually did what she is accused of. And if those are her signatures on those documents, the fact that she did do those things seems just as indisputable.
How does it feel to be on the receiving end, Letitia? How does it feel to be hoist by your own petard?
And this is not because you overestimated the value of your property to the bank (which just about every property owner does as a negotiating tool); a “crime” that had exactly no complainants; only a bank that testified it made the deal at a valuation it agreed to and was paid in full. It is because you personally lied to get better deals than you legally were entitled to.
The best part? The biggest laugher of this fiasco? It is that if the property in Norfolk, Virginia was her principal residence in 2023, she could not have been the legal Attorney General of New York when she won the judgment against Donald Trump!!
Bottom line: if these charges are for real – and, again, it sure looks like they are – Letitia James should resign in disgrace and face the consequences of her illegal actions.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
