By Kara Scannell and Hannah Rabinowitz

(CNN) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing the Democratic New York attorney general’s real estate transactions, Director Kash Patel confirmed in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.

The investigation is focused on whether the state Attorney General, Letitia James, committed fraud on a mortgage application, a source familiar with the case told CNN. A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has issued subpoenas on the matter, they said.

James, who won a civil case last year against the Trump Organization and Trump himself over allegations of faulty business practices, is the first public official who investigated the president to now face potential criminal prosecutions themselves.

While Patel declined to share details about the investigation, he said in an interview on Fox News “this case, I can tell you, is being handled by our professional pros who are subject matter experts, reporting directly to headquarters, which reports to (Deputy Director Dan Bongino) and I.”

The Justice Department has made clear cases into those who investigated Trump are a priority, with Attorney General Pam Bondi announcing a Weaponization Working Group on her first day in office to look at examples of “politicized justice” from law enforcement individuals like James.

Lowell, a lawyer who represents James, said in a statement earlier this month the investigation is focused on “baseless and long-discredited allegations” and “appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened.”

James plans to tap into a private legal defense fund to cover expenses, according to a spokesperson for the attorney general. She is also planning to use state funds to help cover the expenses, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

Last month, a lawyer for James called allegations she engaged in mortgage fraud “threadbare” after Federal Housing Finance Authority Director Bill Pulte sent a letter to the Justice Department referring the attorney general for criminal prosecution.

Pulte alleged James may have engaged in mortgage fraud by making false or misleading statements on property records, including a loan application document indicating a property in Virginia is James’ primary residence, a building record stating her multifamily Brooklyn property incorrectly has five residences instead of four, and a mortgage application that falsely stated James was her father’s spouse.

Abbe Lowell, a powerhouse lawyer retained by James’ office and who previously represented Hunter Biden, acknowledged there were “insignificant” mistakes on lines in some records in a letter to Bondi asking her to close the criminal referral last month. But Lowell said Pulte “cherry-picked” those while ignoring multiple accurate documents that were part of the same record.

“Look at the entire file of each event, the haste in which one document has one line filled out in error, and the clear fact that, with the exception of attending school, Attorney General James has only lived in Brooklyn, and the ‘criminal referral’ becomes three pages of stale, threadbare allegations with no reason to proceed other than they are ‘(b)ased on media reports’ and are the next salvo in President Trump’s revenge tour against Attorney General James,” Lowell wrote in the letter, which included several pages of exhibits to counter the allegations.

James and President Donald Trump have a yearslong history of tension. In 2022, the attorney general sued Trump, his adult sons and his real estate business, accusing them of fraud. The lawsuit has resulted in a penalty of more than $450 million, which Trump has since appealed.

She also filed civil fraud charges against Trump, his adult sons and his real estate business. Last year, a judge found Trump liable for fraud and ordered him to pay more than $450 million – a ruling Trump has since appealed.

Trump tried unsuccessfully to get the lawsuit thrown out arguing James was politically motivated in targeting him and ran her campaign for attorney general on that promise.

Trump revoked James’ security clearance in March.

The-CNN-Wire
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