Federal judge denies NY AG Letitia James’ request to monitor DOJ’s media contacts in criminal case

The federal judge presiding over New York Attorney General Letitia James’ mortgage fraud case has denied a defense motion that would compel Department of Justice (DOJ) officials to log any correspondence with the media. 

James’ defense attorney submitted the motion after reading a report that U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan sent a number of encrypted Signal messages regarding the case to a reporter for Lawfare. 

“[T]he defendant does not demonstrate that it is necessary for the Court to order the government to track communications with the media in any particular form,” U.S. District Judge Jamar Walker wrote Friday. 

Though the Biden-appointed judge said the Signal chat with Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower was “unusual,” Walker did not conclude that the messages were “improper in any sense, either legal or ethical,” The New York Post reported. 

Walker did not rule the messages — which reportedly call into question a grand jury testimony from James’ grandniece regarding never paying rent at the property at the center of the case — were subject to discovery, according to the outlet.

Last week, James pleaded not guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution. 

According to the indictment, James purchased a house in Norfolk, Va., with a loan that prohibited her from using the home as a rental investment property, which prosecutors allege saved her “approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.” 

If convicted on both counts, James could serve up to 60 years in prison and pay a fine as high as $2 million.