Guest post by Joel Gilbert
There is no higher standard for a person who holds the office of state Attorney General than upholding the rule of law, not just in words, but in deed.
The information I have detailed on The Gateway Pundit since March 2025 involving New York Attorney General Letitia James paints a disturbing picture of years of fraudulent real estate and mortgage filings, repeated abuses of power, and violations of state and federal law.
For the integrity of public office, for victims of any wrongdoing, and for public trust, Letitia James must be held accountable in a court of law.
Letitia James herself agrees. After Donald Trump’s fraud conviction, on February 16, 2024, James released a statement: “When powerful people cheat to get better loans, it comes at the expense of honest and hardworking people.
Everyday Americans cannot lie to a bank to get a mortgage to buy a home, and if they did, our government would throw the book at them.
There simply cannot be different rules for different people. Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.”
Today, that principle must be applied to James herself.
A federal investigation led by Special Prosecutor Ed Martin is examining whether she has committed the very frauds she so loudly condemned. I have chronicled the issues, backed by documents, in black and white.
- Mortgage Fraud: Misrepresenting Number of Units at 296 Lafayette Avenue
In New York, the number of units in a property determines whether a mortgage qualifies as a lower-cost residential loan (1–4 units) or a higher-cost commercial loan (5+ units). On a commercial loan, interest rates run about 1 to 3 points higher, while closing costs can be as much as seven times higher. In New York, commercial loans require a recording tax of roughly 2.8% of the loan amount, a commercial appraisal, title insurance, a survey, commercial underwriting, and higher legal costs.
The official Certificate of Occupancy for Letita James’s building at 296 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn describes it as a “FIVE (5) FAMILY DWELLING”.
That designation is the one and only controlling legal authority for unit count. Yet for two decades after buying the property in 2001, James refinanced multiple times while claiming the building had only four units.
Accordingly, in 2011 James obtained a US government HAMP loan by falsely claiming her apartment building had just 4 units. The HAMP loan was eligible only to owners with four or less apartment units.
Letitia James likely also falsely claimed a financial hardship to qualify for the loan, as she was earning around $14,000 per month. With the HAMP loan, James was able to replace her 10% adjustable bank mortgage with a 2.7% government loan on the backs of American taxpayers.
More recently, in 2021, James secured a $200,000 “Credit Line Mortgage” with Citizens Bank by describing the same five-family commercial building as a “single-family dwelling.”
The result: she paid just $4,070 in closing costs instead of $20,000-$30,000 that a commercial borrower would have faced, and got lower interest rates.
My colleague Sam Antar published on The Gateway Pundit that in 2023, Letitia James purchased a home with her niece in Norfolk, Virginia, and wrote on the application, “I HEREBY DECLARE that I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence.”
Letitia later claimed that she made the purchase because she is a “good aunt” merely helping her niece who had children. However, the “children” are both adults with significant criminal histories.
One is named Nikia Monique Thompson, who boasted on LinkedIn,“Been working with Ms James for years from council member to Public advocate to Attorney General”.
- Harboring a Fugitive: Letitia James’s Role in Hiding Her Niece from Authorities
Today, the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction is actively searching for Nikia Monique Thompson, the fugitive daughter Letitia James’s niece. Thompson, listed as an “Absconder” (offender number 0898340) on the department’s official site, is wanted for violating probation terms.
For James, harboring a fugitive in her “primary residence”, especially across state lines, violates state law (VA Code § 18.2-472) regarding harboring someone who escaped custody or absconded, and federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1073) which addresses unlawful flight to avoid prosecution or confinement.
- There’s Much More: Campaign, Foreclosure, Insurance, and Marriage Fraud
James’s 2013 campaign for New York City Public Advocate hired New York Communities for Change, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, to perform campaign activities such as canvassing, staffing, and providing resources like phones and rent. These activities likely constituted in-kind contributions, which are illegal for a 501(c)(4) to provide to a political campaign.
In 2008, James entered a foreclosure purchase of a single-family home at 21 Peters Street in Martinsville, Virginia, alongside two relatives. James’s first name is misspelled as “Letitua” on the documents, suggesting James may have been trying to obscure the transaction. James’s name then failed to appear on the property deed in violation of Virginia law and New York Public Officers Law which requires disclosure of property ownership.
Though insurance records are not public, James’s misrepresentation of her Brooklyn property as a four-unit building over 24 years likely allowed her to illegally secure lower insurance premiums, as five-unit buildings are subject to higher commercial rates.
Letitia James’s mortgage fraud goes all the way back to 1983, when James pretended to be married to her father to qualify for her first home mortgage.
The stakes could not be higher. When allegations of mortgage fraud, abuse of power, and even harboring fugitives touch the office of a state’s top law enforcer, the very foundation of public trust is shaken. If officials at the highest levels believe they can falsify records or shield fugitives without consequence, the rule of law itself begins to unravel.
No public official stands above the law. James has built her career on the principle that fraud, even absent financial loss, is a grave crime. She invoked that very principle in prosecuting Donald Trump, his children, and his organization. James must be held to the same standard she has imposed.
As New York’s chief law enforcement officer, Letitia James carries not only the authority but also the duty to uphold the law in every respect – public and private. The citizens of New York that she serves are entitled to demand from her the same strict compliance she has so forcefully demanded from others.
For the integrity of her office, for the preservation of equal justice, and for the confidence of every citizen who believes in accountability, Letitia James must finally face justice and be forced to play by the rules she so proudly preached. We are counting on Special Prosecutor Ed Martin to hold Letitia James accountable.
Joel Gilbert is a Los Angeles-based film producer and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is the producer of the new film Roseanne Barr Is America. He is also the producer of: Dreams from My Real Father, The Trayvon Hoax, Trump: The Art of the Insult, and many other films on American politics and music icons. Gilbert is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.
The post EXCLUSIVE: Why Letitia James Must Face Justice appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.