The judge overseeing Letitia James’ mortgage fraud case on Friday denied a motion from the New York attorney general attempting to force federal prosecutors to keep a log of all their communications with the media.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell filed the motion last week, when James was arraigned on bank fraud and false statements charges, in response to a report that US Attorney Lindsey Halligan sent a flurry of encrypted Signal messages about the case to a reporter.
“[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,” US District Judge Jamar Walker wrote in his six-page order.
“The defendant’s request that the government be required to keep a communication log is DENIED,” the Biden-appointed judge ruled.
Walker noted that Halligan’s Signal chat with Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower earlier this month was “unusual” but he declined to offer an opinion “on whether they were improper in any sense, either legal or ethical.”
The judge ordered federal prosecutors to comply with all court rules, but didn’t suggest any had been broken.
He also ordered a “litigation hold preventing the deletion or destruction of any records or communications having to do with the investigation or prosecution of this case.”
Halligan’s Signal messages to the Bower were set to disappear after eight hours.
The judge, however, did not rule on whether Halligan’s message — which cast doubt on a New York Times report disclosing that James’ grandniece testified to a grand jury that she never paid rent on the Norfolk, Va., property at the center of the case — amounted to material subject to discovery rules.
“[T]he Court is not persuaded that preservation of evidence related to the government’s communications requires such evidence be maintained in any particular form,” Walker wrote. “The defendant does not demonstrate that a communication log is necessary, so the Court will not order the government to maintain one.”
“The Court trusts that counsel on both sides will comply with this Order without further handholding.”
In response to James’ motion, federal prosecutors had asked Walker to place a gag order on the New York attorney general, which he declined to do so.
James pleaded not guilty last week to one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.
The longtime Donald Trump foe bought a three-bedroom, one-bathroom residence on Peronne Avenue in Norfolk with a $109,600 loan on Aug. 17, 2020, which was completed with a second home rider designating James as the “sole borrower to occupy and use the property,” according to the indictment.
That statement netted the Empire State’s top law enforcement officer more favorable mortgage terms that benefited her to the tune of nearly $19,000.
However, prosecutors say the home “was not occupied or used” by James, but “was instead used as a rental investment property” to house her grandniece, Nakia Thompson.
James faces up to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million if convicted of both counts.
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