Ilhan Omar, you have been put on notice by Letitia James: She’s not going to be outdone in the incestuous relationships of convenience department.
Rep. Omar, you may recall, allegedly married a man who is, many say, her brother in order to get him to the United States legally. While some reporters have pursued the story, most of the media has been content to stay away, safe in the knowledge that going after the Minnesota Democrat, no matter how accurate the charges may be, cannot end well for them.
In the case of James, the attorney general of New York, it’s going to be a bit more difficult to look away.
Late Tuesday, the news broke that James — who managed to secure a civil judgment against the Trump Organization for what her office claimed was a pattern of inflating the value of the business to get favorable terms for loans — was referred to the Department of Justice for allegedly lying about properties she owned to get favorable terms for loans.
The big-ticket item was a property she told banks in 2023 was her primary residence, despite the fact that it was in Virginia and “despite being a statewide public office holder in the state of New York at that same time and primarily residing in the state of New York,” U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte noted in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Primary residence mortgages receive more favorable loan terms, including lower interest rates, than secondary residence mortgages. Lenders view secondary residence mortgages as significantly riskier, as a borrower is more likely to continue paying off a primary residence mortgage during any financial hardship. Interest rates on secondary residence mortgages are typically between 0.25-0.50 percent higher than their primary residence counterparts; however, this gap can widen depending on the lender,” the letter read.
There was more fun to be had for those who looked below the top bullet points, however — including the fact that James had her father co-sign a loan for her in 1983 when she was 22 — but the two were listed as “husband and wife.”
Nor was this limited to behavior she undertook when she was just 22: “Then, on May 4, 2000, Ms. James was listed again as ‘husband and wife’ in documents,” Pulte also noted. James would have been 41 when that document was signed.
Is this poetic justice?
“Ms. James, for both properties listed above, appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms,” Pulte wrote.
And it’s not like she tried to correct it:
As you can see, in the documents, her signature appears right by the “husband and wife” designation.
“While this was a long time ago, it raises serious concerns about the validity of Ms. James representations on mortgage applications,” Pulte noted.
Yes, well, you don’t say. And it’s not just that it happened once when she was younger; it happened twice over a 17-year period, where correcting the record probably wouldn’t expose James to anything more than higher interest rates or more tricky loan applications.
Which, if I’m not mistaken, is exactly what she prosecuted Donald Trump for — unless, of course, they really were husband and wife and preemptively one-upped Rep. Omar in the incest department. I think this is highly unlikely, but darned if it doesn’t provide for a few chuckles over the psychological and legal projection that James engaged in with the Trump prosecution.
And lo and behold, she’s taking another page out of the Trump playbook — more speciously, it’s worth noting, if she doesn’t have a good explanation for these documents — by claiming this was all lawfare.
“Attorney General James is focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this Administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution. She will not be intimidated by bullies — no matter who they are,” a spokesman for the attorney general said, according to the New York Post.
She has nothing to hide … which is why, when reporters wanted to ask the direct source questions, she pretended to be on the phone.
Letitia James dodges questions about mortgage fraud scandal outside NYC home, pretends to be on the phone https://t.co/EauzmSjdqA pic.twitter.com/OGeg1y5XY9
— New York Post (@nypost) April 16, 2025
Totally not intimidated by those “bullies.”
It’s also worth noting that, in both cases, marriage was merely a means to an end, not a sacred institution. In Omar’s case, it [allegedly] got her brother into the country. In James’ case, even though the marriage almost certainly wasn’t real, it got her favorable loan terms.
Finally, I don’t even need to say that if a Republican did something like this, James would be on them like Chuck Schumer to a camera. We know this because she already tried, in a case that was far less clear-cut but where venue seemed to influence the verdict, not facts.
And now, after thinking she beat Trump, it turns out she beat Ilhan Omar in arguably the worst contest a politician can win. Great work there, Tish.
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