NY AG’s office hires Hunter Biden’s lawyer to defend Letitia James against mortgage fraud accusations?
New York Attorney General Letitia James has tapped criminal defense attorney Abbe Lowell — who previously defended Hunter Biden against federal tax and gun charges — as she fights mortgage fraud allegations.
Lowell, a former partner at the Winston & Strawn LLP law firm, was hired by the Office of the New York State Attorney General and not retained personally by James, according to the Times Union.?
The decision to hire Lowell, a prominent white-collar defense lawyer, was based in part on the AG’s office belief that the bombshell criminal referral filed by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte earlier this month was directly correlated to the civil fraud lawsuit James’ office brought against President Trump last year, the outlet reported.
James is accused of falsifying records to get home loans for a property in Virginia that she claimed was her “principal residence” in 2023 — while still serving as a New York state prosecutor, according to Pulte’s referral to the Justice Department.
Pulte also alleged that in February 2001, James purchased a five-family dwelling in Brooklyn but has “consistently misrepresented the same property as only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications.”
Lowell is representing James as a private citizen, according to Fox News.?
He is no longer at Winston & Strawn LLP, having left to start his own firm, a spokesperson for the firm told The Post.?
On Thursday, Lowell attempted to poke holes in the allegations in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi. He also argued that the accusations are nothing but “retribution” from Trump against James in the letter.
It’s unclear if New York taxpayers will be footing the bill for Lowell’s legal services.
The DC-based lawyer reportedly “charges a rate of $855 per billable hour,” a figure that was cited by an attorney for Lunden Roberts – Hunter’s baby mama – when the former first son asked an Arkansas court in 2023 to reduce his child support payments.
The New York AG’s office and Lowell did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Hunter retained Lowell in December 2022 ahead of House Republican investigations into his overseas business dealings.
Lowell, a graduate of Columbia Law School, served as Hunter’s top attorney throughout the special counsel investigation that culminated in federal gun and tax charges.
Hunter was convicted of three felonies at trial in the Delaware gun case and pleaded guilty to nine charges – three felonies and six misdemeanors – in the tax fraud case out of California last year.
He avoided prison time after receiving an 11th-hour pardon from former President Joe Biden in December.
Lowell, who served as chief minority counsel in the House of Representatives during the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s, also successfully defended prominent Democrats John Edwards and former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) from federal corruption charges in 2012 and 2017, respectively.
During Trump’s first term, Lowell represented first daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, in congressional and FBI probes into Russia collusion allegations.
