Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) mocked New York Attorney General Letitia James‘s mortgage fraud allegations with his new bill, titled the LETITIA Act, which aims to enforce stricter rules against public officials for financial misconduct.
The FBI is investigating James for alleged mortgage fraud after she wrote that a property in Virginia was her primary residence, among other falsehoods. She is also accused of misrepresenting the number of units a property she owned in New York has.
The LETITIA Act, which stands for Law Enforcement Tools to Interdict Troubling Investments in Abodes, would create harsher penalties for officials engaging in mortgage or other types of fraud.
“This legislation would empower President Trump to hold crooked politicians like New York’s Letitia James accountable for defrauding their constituents, violating their oath of office, and breaking the law, and I’m proud to lead my Republican colleagues in introducing it,” Cornyn said in a statement.
The bill, which is co-sponsored by six other Senate Republicans, would increase federal statutory minimum sentences and fines for elected officials convicted of bank, loan, mortgage, or tax fraud.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the investigation into James in May, saying in an interview on Fox News, “This case, I can tell you, is being handled by our professional pros who are subject matter experts, reporting directly to headquarters, which reports to [Deputy Director Dan Bongino] and I.”
The Justice Department is also criminally investigating James, who told the New York Times in June that she was “not concerned about any criminal indictment.”
James will have a new state-created $10 million legal fund, which provides money for private defense counsel for those targeted by the government, to defend herself.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was targeted by President Donald Trump after he was referred to the DOJ for mortgage fraud last month.
“I learn that Fannie Mae’s Financial Crimes Division has concluded that Adam Schiff has engaged in a sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“Adam Schiff said that his primary residence was in MARYLAND to get a cheaper mortgage and rip off America, when he must LIVE in CALIFORNIA because he was a Congressman from CALIFORNIA. I always knew Adam Schiff was a Crook,” Trump added.
Trump said Schiff’s “fraud” began when he refinanced his Maryland home in 2009 until it was correctly designated as his second home in 2020.
“Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice,” the president said.
Marisol Samayoa, a spokeswoman for Schiff, told Fox News Digital that Trump’s “false allegations are a transparent attempt to punish a perceived political foe who is committed to holding Trump to account.”
“The facts here are simple: Senator Schiff and his wife accurately represented to their lenders that they would occupy and use the Maryland house they purchased in 2003 as a ‘principal residence,’ rather than a vacation home or an investment property,” Samayoa said. “He also disclosed to his lenders – repeatedly – that he maintained another home in his district in California, where he lived when not in Washington, and which was also a principal residence, not a vacation home or an investment property,” she said.
LETITIA JAMES SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SNAP ELIGIBILITY
“This was done in consultation with relevant House counsel. As was proper, he claimed only a single homestead tax exemption (from California) worth approximately $70 in annual savings,” she continued.
Under Cornyn’s new bill, if convicted of mortgage fraud, James or Schiff would face a minimum of one year in prison.