President Trump could soon initiate criminal charges against New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, over, of all things, her real estate dealings.

That process could have already begun with a criminal referral that came in the form of a letter to Attorney General Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, from the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, a scion of the PulteGroup fortune. The letter alleges that Ms. James “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms” to purchase a “residence” at Norfolk, Virginia.

Mr. Trump amplified those allegations on Truth Social, writing that Ms. James “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.” Ms. James, when she was running for office, has called Mr. Trump a “con man” and a “carnival barker,” and vowed to shine a “bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings.”

The prosecutor made good on those vows with her civil fraud case against Mr. Trump, his two adult sons, and his sprawling real estate business. Ms. James found a willing vessel in the presiding judge, Arthur Engoron, who found for New York in advance of trial, and, after a contentious penalty phase, imposed a judgement of more than $450 million. 

Judge Engoron, who Mr. Trump called “extremely hostile” and “a complete and total puppet” of Ms. James, also imposed onerous restrictions on the ability of Mr. Trump’s enterprises to operate, and barred him and his two sons from doing business in the Empire State. 

Mr. Trump has appealed that verdict, and his legal team repeatedly demanded that Judge Engoron recuse himself. Mr. Trump was particularly enraged that the judge imposed a gag order on Mr. Trump after he leveled insults against Judge Engoron’s principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield. 

Mr. Trump referred to Ms. Greenfield as “Schumer’s girlfriend” without any evidence that she has had an amorous relationship with the U.S. senator of New York. Mr. Trump’s legal team repeatedly criticized Ms. Greenfield, who sat to the judge’s right on the bench, for “rolling her eyes” and “co-judging.” Ms. Greenfield is now an elected judge herself. 

Ms. James’s case against Mr. Trump appears to be vulnerable to reversal on appeal. In September, judges on a New York appeals court hearing the case orally expressed considerable skepticism about the strength of her case. A decision is pending.

Mr. Pulte’s criminal referral alleges that in August 2023 Ms. James “falsified records” to obtain a home loan in Virginia — claiming it was her “principal residence” — when she was New York’s top prosecutor. That would have occurred just weeks before the fraud trial began. New York law requires that the attorney general have a primary place of residence in the state.

The letter also accuses Ms. James of having “consistently misrepresented” her five-family residence at Brooklyn as “only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications” and describing a purchase she made with her father as being transacted by a “husband and wife.” Mr. Pulte reasons that this “​​raises serious concerns about the validity of Ms. James’ representations.”

A criminal referral is merely a recommendation that a prosecuting body, in this case the Department of Justice, pursue criminal charges. The DOJ — ultimately a branch of the executive, all of the authority of which is vested in the president — possesses the discretion to decide whether to pursue charges or eschew them.  

Ms. Bondi, during her first weeks in office, established a “Weaponization Working Group” to probe, among other subjects, “Federal cooperation with the weaponization by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James, their respective staffs, and other New York officials to target President Trump, his family, and his businesses.” That could suggest an interest in pursuing charges. 

The accusations against Ms. James are, in an irony worthy of Shakespeare, mirror images of the misrepresentations for which Judge Engoron found Mr. Trump liable on a grand scale. Ms. James’s business fraud case centered on what she claimed were misrepresentations Mr. Trump’s company made when it overvalued some of its properties in order to obtain favorable loan terms. 

When Ms. James first charged Mr. Trump, she quipped: “Claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal. It’s the art of the steal.”  

A statement issued by Ms. James’s office on Tuesday to Axios asserts: “Attorney General James is focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this Administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution. She will not be intimidated by bullies—no matter who they are.”