消息人士称，弗吉尼亚州诺福克的一个联邦大陪审团周四拒绝起诉纽约司法部长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯涉嫌抵押贷款欺诈，拒绝了司法部在联邦法官仅10天后重新提起诉讼的尝试驳回早先的案件基于弗吉尼亚东区美国检察官的非法任命。
据消息人士称，联邦检察官未能说服大多数大陪审团成员批准詹姆斯误导银行以获得房屋抵押贷款优惠条款的指控。
大陪审团在该案中退回“不真实的法案”，标志着普通公民对司法部试图对詹姆斯提出指控的不同寻常的谴责，詹姆斯是唐纳德·特朗普总统的对手，他一直是他反复攻击的目标要求起诉.
司法部代表拒绝置评。
詹姆斯在一份声明中说，她感谢大陪审团的成员。
“正如我从一开始就说过的，对我的指控是毫无根据的，”詹姆斯说。"是时候停止我们司法系统这种不受控制的武器化了."
检察官声称詹姆斯，他成功地带来了民事欺诈案件去年针对特朗普，虚假地将她在2020年购买的一套房子列为第二套房子，而不是投资性房地产，以便在贷款期限内以更优惠的抵押贷款利率节省潜在的19，000美元。
特朗普直接打电话给起诉詹姆斯和其他政治对手一样，总统的前律师兼助手林赛·哈利根(Lindsey Halligan)在10月份对詹姆斯提出了起诉，但一名法官在确定哈利根非法担任弗吉尼亚州东区的联邦检察官后，驳回了起诉。
美国地区法官卡梅隆·柯里(Cameron Currie)得出结论，根据联邦法律，司法部长无权任命哈利根担任这一职务，因此她采取的任何行动都是无效的，包括对詹姆斯和前美国联邦调查局导演的起诉詹姆斯·科米.
目前尚不清楚检察官何时或是否会再次寻求指控科米在2020年向国会做出虚假陈述。但是科米和詹姆斯都分开了法律挑战对他们的指控，包括他们是在特朗普总统的直接命令下被报复性起诉的说法，可能会对法官考虑是否让他们的案件进入审判产生影响。
正如ABC新闻此前报道的那样，调查詹姆斯可能存在抵押贷款欺诈的检察官发现证据表明似乎降价了詹姆斯的起诉书中的一些指控在9月份得到了保证，包括减少詹姆斯个人从她购买的财产中获利的程度。
Grand jury rejects DOJ's attempt to revive fraud case against New York AG Letitia James: Sources
A federal grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud on Thursday, sources said, rejecting the Department of Justice's attempt to refile the case just ten days after a federal judgedismissed an earlier casebased on the unlawful appointment of the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Federal prosecutors failed to convince a majority of grand jurors to approve charges that James misled a bank to obtain favorable terms on a home mortgage, according to sources.
The grand jury's return of a "no true bill" in the case marked an extraordinary rebuke by average citizens of the Department of Justice's attempt to bring charges against James, an adversary of President Donald Trump who has been the target of his repeatedcalls for prosecution.
A Justice Department representative declined to comment.
James, in a statement, said she was grateful to the members of the grand jury.
"As I have said from the start, the charges against me are baseless," James said. "It is time for this unchecked weaponization of our justice system to stop."
Prosecutors have allegedthat James, who successfully brought acivil fraud caseagainst Trump last year, falsely listed a home she purchased in 2020 as a second home instead of an investment property in order to save potentially $19,000 over the life of the loan with a more favorable mortgage rate.
Following a direct call from Trump toprosecute Jamesand other political adversaries, the president's former attorney and aide Lindsey Halligan secured an indictment against James in October, but a judge dismissed the indictment after determining that Halligan was unlawfully serving as the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie concluded that the attorney general lacked the authority to appoint Halligan to the post under federal law, nullifying any actions taken by her including the indictments against both James and former FBI directorJames Comey.
It's not immediately clear when or if prosecutors will again seek to charge Comey on allegations of making false statements to Congress in 2020. But both Comey and James leveled separatelegal challengesto the indictments against them, including the argument they were vindictively prosecuted at the direct orders of President Trump, that could carry weight with judges considering whether to let their cases go forward to trial.
As ABC News previously reported, prosecutors who investigated James for possible mortgage fraud found evidence thatappeared to undercutsome of the allegations in the indictment of James secured in September -- including reducing the degree to which James allegedly personally profited from her purchase of the property.
