The Justice Department failed to re-indict Letitia James a second time

A grand jury has declined, for the second time, to bring a new indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who defeated President Donald Trump and his company in court, according to multiple sources.

The Justice Department presented its case against James to a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday — a week after a different grand jury in Norfolk declined to bring charges.

A spokeswoman for James’ legal team declined to comment Thursday.

The Justice Department’s quick move to return the case against James to a grand jury shows the intensity of efforts to prosecute the New York attorney general, a frequent Trump political target who was one of several enemies he said on social media should face legal risks.

Late last month, a federal judge said Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s handpicked prosecutor, was illegally appointed as interim US attorney and therefore the criminal charges against James and another Trump political opponent – former FBI Director James Comey – should be dismissed. Halligan, a former White House counsel, was hired after the Justice Department pushed out the previous interim U.S. attorney amid growing pressure to bring charges against Comey and James.

James pleaded not guilty to one count of making false statements to a financial institution and one count of bank fraud.

“All of the actions that flowed from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment,” including the indictment against Comey and James, “were an unlawful exercise of executive power and must therefore be set aside,” Judge Cameron McGowan Curry ruled.

But Curry threw out the cases “without prejudice,” leaving open the possibility that both men could be charged again for the same alleged conduct.

And, with James, the Justice Department quickly tried again — first on Dec. 4 in Norfolk, and then on Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia.

Prosecutors, however, face a long road ahead. James’ attorneys previously argued that he was charged selectively and vindictively.

Before their cases were dismissed, both James and Comey pointed to Trump’s numerous comments calling for action against them, and in James’ case, accused the government of “turning the Justice Department into the president’s personal agent.”

Their lawyers pointed to one of Trump’s truthful social media posts directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi in September.

“Pam: I’ve reviewed over 30 statements and posts that are, essentially, ‘same old story, everything, no action. Nothing is happening. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing will be done,” Trump wrote, referring to Comey, Calif. Adam, James and Calif.

The Justice Department has argued that the president’s social media posts did not direct Bondi to act, but simply that Trump believed the men were guilty because they should be prosecuted.

In the cases against Comey and James, defense attorneys argued that the 120-day period allowed for an interim U.S. attorney to serve before confirmation by the Senate or the approval of district judges was before Halligan took office.

This, they said, meant Halligan’s appointment was illegal.

Curry agreed. She wrote that agreeing to the administration’s position would allow Trump and other officials to “avoid the Senate confirmation process indefinitely by stacking consecutive 120-day appointments.”

“The 120-day clock began to run on January 21, 2025 with Mr. Siebert’s appointment,” she wrote, referring to Eric Siebert, who was serving as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia until he was fired in September. (After the 120-day period expired earlier this year, the district’s judges voted to keep him on the job.)

“When that clock expired on May 21, 2025, so did the Attorney General’s appointment authority,” Curry wrote, adding that Bondi’s “attempt to install” Halligan “was invalid and Ms. Halligan has been serving in that role unlawfully since September 22, 25.”

This story is developing and will be updated.

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