Virginia Prosecutor Fired After Allegedly Sending Case Files on New York AG to Personal Email

A Virginia federal prosecutor who pushed back against bringing mortgage fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James has been dismissed following allegations that she sent investigative files containing James’ personal information to her own private email account, according to an email reviewed by CNN.

Prosecutor Beth Yusi was terminated earlier this month, with sources citing the alleged mishandling of sensitive information as a contributing factor. Yusi’s attorney, Margaret Donovan, denied the allegations, telling CNN that her client “has no record of any such email” and “has never used her personal email account for any portion of any investigation.” Donovan described Yusi as “a well-respected prosecutor” with nearly two decades of experience.

Although sharing evidence from an active investigation is not typically illegal if it does not involve classified material, it does violate Justice Department policy. The DOJ declined to comment.

Before her firing, Yusi had written an internal memo outlining why prosecutors found insufficient evidence to charge James. The memo’s contents and her resistance reportedly played a role in her termination.

The Virginia prosecutor’s office, led by U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, has faced internal turmoil since September. Several career prosecutors reportedly resisted pursuing the case against James, while Halligan believed some attorneys were leaking information to the media. Halligan personally presented the case to a grand jury, which returned an indictment.

A DOJ official previously told CNN that Halligan was never shown Yusi’s memo explaining the decision not to pursue charges.

Credit: CNN Newsource

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