Democrats are stridently coming to the defense of New York’s attorney general, Letitita James, who was indicted Thursday night on charges related to alleged bank fraud that were brought by the acting U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan. Ms. Halligan was installed in the post after President Trump demanded that the Department of Justice go after his political opponents. 

Ms. James was indicted by a grand jury late Thursday on charges of alleged bank fraud and allegedly making false statements to a financial institution. 

The indictment alleges that she purchased a home at Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020 and rented the home to another family in violation of her mortgage contract with a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan bank. She borrowed just more than $100,000 according to the indictment. 

The Department of Justice says that of her alleged misrepresentations, Ms. James received an “ill-gotten” benefit of just less than $19,000. 

Her fellow Democrats say that this is just more of the same from Mr. Trump, who demanded in a social media post that Attorney General Pam Bondi go after Ms. James, among other political opponents. 

“This is what tyranny looks like,” Senator Chuck Schumer wrote in a post on X. “President Trump is using the Justice Department as his personal attack dog, targeting Attorney General Tish James for the ‘crime’ of prosecuting him for fraud — and winning.”

“This isn’t justice. It’s revenge. And it should horrify every American who believes no one is above the law,” the Senate minority leader wrote. 

The Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, in a statement released on Thursday accused Mr. Trump of deploying “fascist tactics” to go after his enemies. 

“No one should be surprised that Donald Trump is employing fascist tactics — prosecuting his opponents, weaponizing the federal government, and attacking the very fabric of our democracy,” Mr. Mamdani said. “If Trump wants to leverage baseless charges to visit political retribution on New York’s Attorney General, he’ll have to go through New Yorkers first. The Attorney General has had our back, time and again. We have hers.”

The House minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, called the indictment “baseless” in a statement. 

“Donald Trump continues to disgrace the presidency and the Department of Justice,” Mr. Jeffries said Thursday. “Those sycophants who aid and abet the President’s vengeful schemes will not be able to hide from the serious legal consequences of their behavior. They will be held accountable.”

Ms. James herself says that the charges are illegitimate. 

“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” she said in a video posted to X. “These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost.”

“We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights,” she added. 

Ms. James is due to appear in a Norfolk, Virginia, federal courtroom on October 24 for her arraignment. She is being represented by Abbe Lowell, who served as defense attorney for Hunter Biden during his two criminal prosecutions. He has also represented Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, as well as the president’s hand-picked CDC director, Susan Monarez, who was fired this summer. 

Ms. Halligan is also leading the charge to prosecute a former FBI director, James Comey, whom Mr. Trump has long described as a “dirty cop.” He was arraigned at a northern Virginia federal court on Wednesday on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing congressional proceedings.