Grand juries in Virginia and Maryland are weighing criminal indictments against New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Senator Adam Schiff over allegations they falsified property records to secure favorable loan terms, according to Department of Justice sources.
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Ed Martin as a Special Attorney to lead the prosecution of James and Schiff for potential mortgage fraud, bank fraud and wire fraud, which carry jail terms of up to 30 years.
“Attorney General Bondi and President Trump have given me a very serious mission,” says Martin, the former acting US Attorney for Washington, DC.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Sen. Adam Schiff are being subject to possible criminal indictments in Virginia and Maryland.AP
“I am committed to going where the facts take me.
“For months DOJ and the FBI have been working on these two cases, it is my job to stick the landing.”
Special attorneys are empowered to conduct criminal proceedings, including grand jury investigations and prosecutions, usually in sensitive or high-profile cases, and can operate outside the district where the case is pending.
James is alleged to have falsified information on mortgage applications, including listing her father as her husband to secure favorable loans, and misrepresenting her residency status on a Norfolk, Virginia, property.
Schiff is accused of mortgage fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and false statements to financial institutions for certifying a Maryland property as his primary residence while also claiming a California condominium as his main home for tax and mortgage purposes.

Schiff is accused of allegedly falsifying property records to secure favorable loan terms.REUTERS
The alleged occupancy misrepresentation on federally backed loans from 2003 to 2019 allowed him to benefit from lower interest rates and tax breaks meant for primary residences.
Both James and Schiff deny any wrongdoing.
“The allegations against Senator Schiff are transparently false, stale, and long debunked,” said former US Attorney Preet Bharara, who is representing Schiff in the case.
“Now Ed Martin, the most brazenly partisan and politically compromised person possible for the task, has been picked to investigate a political adversary. The bias here is glaring,” Bharara said.
“Any supposed investigation led by him would be the very definition of weaponization of the justice process.”
Subpoenas have been issued, and witnesses have begun testifying in grand jury proceedings for Schiff in Maryland, and James in Virginia.
The investigation into James’ real estate holdings began in April when Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department.