DOJ fails to reindict Letitia James in Virginia

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia decided not to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James after the original indictment was dismissed last week by a federal judge.

The decision represents a major setback for the Department of Justice (DOJ), which had sought to reinstate the charges in a politically sensitive case amid rivalry between James and President Donald Trump.

Judge Cameron Currie quashed the indictment, finding that the prosecutor who brought it, Lindsey Halligan, had acted improperly in serving as acting federal prosecutor. According to Fox News, following the ruling, Trump's DOJ attempted to bring the case before a grand jury again but failed to obtain a second indictment, which is unusual in federal prosecutions, where such bodies usually find probable cause to proceed.

James, one of President Trump's most critical Democratic figures, had been indicted in July for bank fraud related to financial activities in Norfolk, Virginia. She pleaded not guilty and asked that the charges be dismissed under multiple legal arguments.

Although the grand jury did not endorse a new indictment, a source quoted by Fox News cautioned that the outcome should not be interpreted as final: “I’d say don’t celebrate just yet.”

The Department of Justice could still try to bring charges again, though the grand jury decision notoriously complicates that path. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had vowed to appeal the ruling that invalidated the original indictment, defending the validity of the initial prosecution.

James has been at the center of numerous legal and political disputes over the past few years, especially over her investigations into Trump's financial operations in New York. The dismissal of the indictment and the DOJ's inability to reimpose it deepens the complex court battle between the two sides.