Trump calls on 'wacky crook' Letitia James to resign after troubling fraud allegation surfaces

The tides may have turned for President Donald Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who once went after him for fraud, after some documents connected with a house in Virginia revealed James may now be the one in hot water.

Late Sunday night, Trump posted an ominous message to Truth Social: "Letitia James, a totally corrupt politician, should resign from her position as New York State Attorney General, IMMEDIATELY. Everyone is trying to MAKE NEW YORK GREAT AGAIN, and it can never be done with this wacky crook in office."

'I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence.'

Trump's social media post also included a link to a report about a house in Norfolk, Virginia, that James and Shamice Thompson-Hairston, described as a relative of James, apparently purchased together in August 2023.

The house is a rather unremarkable three-bedroom, one-bathroom residence built in 1947. The women apparently purchased it for $240,000, securing a mortgage for just under $220,000.

The Virginia land records about the purchase include a "specific power of attorney" document authorizing Thompson-Hairston to act as James' attorney-in-fact. In this document, James states: "I HEREBY DECLARE that I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence."

Screenshot of land record

The "specific power of attorney" document was signed and notarized on August 17, 2023. Except for the inclusion of her middle initial, the signature that appears on it seems to match the signature James regularly stamps on New York documents.

Screenshot of land record

Screenshot of New York state website

On August 31, 2023, Thompson-Hairston signed a statement claiming that she would serve as James' attorney-in-fact. Another document included in the land record obligates both women to "occupy, establish, and use" the Norfolk home as their "principal residence" within 60 days and to keep it their "principal residence" for at least one year.

If these Virginia documents are authentic, then James appears to be in a double bind.

At the time they were signed, James had already been the attorney general of New York for four years. Funded in part by billionaire financier George Soros, James campaigned in 2018 on a promise of "getting" Trump and later publicly fantasized about "suing" him.

Since she elevated to executive statewide office, she is required to reside in New York. According to New York law, once a state executive "ceas[es] to be an inhabitant of the state," the office is considered vacant.

'Can she document continued New York residency during this period sufficient to maintain her legal authority as Attorney General?'

In October 2023, just two months after the documents were signed, James filed a civil lawsuit against Trump, accusing him and others affiliated with the Trump Organization of overvaluing properties to negotiate better deals with banks and insurance companies. A jury agreed and slapped the organization with a staggering $455 million judgment.

The judgment is currently under appeal, and members of a New York appeals court already signaled support for overturning or at least reducing it.

If James' primary residence in 2023 and 2024 was actually in Virginia, her standing as attorney general — and in the Trump case as well as others — is dubious.

Moreover, a possible motive for declaring a property to be an owner's primary residence would be to secure a lower interest rate on a mortgage. If James misrepresented the Virginia property as her "principal residence," she could have committed the same type of fraud she accused the Trump organization of perpetrating.

In fact, reports have speculated that such false statements could even be considered federal wire fraud, a charge that carries decades in prison and fines of up to $1 million. The Department of Justice, now under Trump's purview, would be in a position to file such charges, if leaders are so inclined.

For now, the most significant drawback to the allegations against James is the fact that they were first raised in the blog White Collar Fraud by convicted fraudster Sam Antar. In the late 1980s, Antar was the CFO of Crazy Eddie, a Brooklyn-based electronics chain that went under after serious financial corruption was exposed.

Antar managed to escape prison time by copping a plea deal. He then made a "Catch Me If You Can" turnaround of sorts and became an investigator of white-collar financial crime.

In addition to publishing the Virginia land documents and explaining their relevance, Antar posed four important questions regarding James and her political future:

Why did James explicitly declare her intent to make Virginia her principal residence while serving as New York’s Attorney General?

Did she fulfill the 60-day occupancy requirement in her mortgage while simultaneously appearing in New York courts?

Can she document continued New York residency during this period sufficient to maintain her legal authority as Attorney General?

Will this affect her eligibility to run for re-election, which requires uninterrupted New York residency?