Grand Juries Come and Go. The Documents Don’t. Letitia James Can’t Escape Them

A second grand jury declined to indict. The DOJ says they’ll try again. Meanwhile, 42 years of public records sit waiting for someone willing to present them.

I committed crime for 16 years at Crazy Eddie. I’ve spent the last 30 years tracking white-collar criminals. I know what fraud looks like. I know what it smells like. And I know what it looks like when people don’t want to find it.

In June 2008, the SEC dropped its accounting fraud investigation into Overstock.com. I didn’t let it go. Using nothing but public filings, I exposed the fraud they missed. Their CEO Patrick Byrne called me “Sam Antar the Crook” and dismissed my analysis as “gibberish.” Two years later, the SEC forced the company to restate its financial reports—correcting the exact violations I had identified.

In the middle of that battle—while Byrne was attacking me on every conference call—Crain’s New York Business put me on the front page. October 5, 2009. The headline: “CRAZY LIKE A FOX.” Richard Simpson—the former SEC attorney who helped stop my 16-year crime spree—told Crain’s: “He knows accounting backwards and forwards.”

I’m telling you this not to brag, but to explain what happens next. The attack phase always comes first. Then the documents win. That’s the pattern. It’s happening again. (Click on image to enlarge.)

On October 9, 2025, a federal grand jury in Alexandria found probable cause that New York Attorney General Letitia James committed two federal crimes: bank fraud and false statements. On December 4, 2025, a different grand jury in Norfolk declined to re-indict after a rushed presentation the week after Thanksgiving.

One grand jury saw the evidence and voted to indict. One didn’t. And someone inside the Department of Justice—someone who got favorable leak after favorable leak positioning himself as the “reasonable skeptic”—seems to have wanted it that way.

The celebration from James, her attorneys, and her political allies was immediate. “Vindication.” “Baseless charges.” “Weaponization.”

Except for one problem: the documents haven’t changed.

The indictment centered on 3121 Peronne Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia. Here’s what the public records show—four sworn statements about the same property, each telling a different story:

That’s not ambiguity. That’s not a paperwork error. That’s four contradictory sworn statements to four different institutions. At least three are federal crimes.

And Peronne is just one property. The documentary record compiled by myself and fellow researcher Joel Gilbert spans 42 years across four properties in two states. All of it sourced from NYC ACRIS, Norfolk County property records, New York State Financial Disclosures, and federal court filings. Public records. Exposed by a convicted felon who committed securities fraud in the 1980s.

They can attack the messenger all they want. They can’t make the documents disappear.

The Scoreboard

Let’s be clear about what happened:

One grand jury saw the evidence and voted to indict. One didn’t. Neither ruling addressed whether Letitia James committed mortgage fraud. The documents say what they say regardless of what happens in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Question No One Is Asking

Here’s what no one is asking: Lindsey Halligan, with no prosecutorial experience, presented the case to a grand jury alone—and secured an indictment on all counts.

Roger Keller, a career prosecutor from Missouri, was brought in to handle the second grand jury. But before we get to Keller’s rushed presentation, look at how Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was positioned in the press—through illegal leaks—in the months leading up to it:

Every leak portrayed Blanche favorably. Not one suggested he failed to act on 42 years of documented fraud. Someone with access to Main Justice leadership was shaping a narrative—and that narrative absolved Blanche while blaming Martin, Pulte, and Halligan.

Now here’s who presented to the second grand jury: Roger Keller, a federal prosecutor from Missouri who joined the team on October 22.

Here’s the question no one is asking: Why December 4?

Nothing required that date. The statute of limitations wasn’t expiring. Grand juries convene regularly. They can still refile—a DOJ official told reporters “no premature celebrations.”

So why present ten days after Judge Currie’s dismissal, the week after Thanksgiving? Why not wait two more weeks? The grand jury convened at 9 AM and adjourned by lunchtime.

Who decided December 4? Who benefits from a failure they can always redo?

As Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche oversees case strategy and resources. The same Todd Blanche who “questioned the legal viability” of charges. The same Todd Blanche who was being “bypassed” by the Weaponization Working Group—Ed Martin and Bill Pulte, who were pushing the prosecution and reportedly speaking directly to Trump. The same Todd Blanche who got favorable leak after favorable leak positioning him as the reasonable skeptic.

We don’t know what happened in that grand jury room. But we do know this: the documents haven’t changed.

The Victory Lap That Proves Nothing

Within hours of the grand jury’s decision, the celebration began.

Governor Kathy Hochul: “Case dismissed. Again.”

Except that’s not what happened, Governor. A grand jury declining to indict isn’t a dismissal. The first case was dismissed on Appointments Clause grounds—a procedural ruling about who presented the case, not whether the evidence supported charges.

Attorney General James called the charges “baseless.”

The first grand jury disagreed. They found probable cause for two federal crimes.

Abbe Lowell, her attorney, called it “a decisive rejection of a case that should never have existed in the first place.”

The same Abbe Lowell who cited my blog in footnote 12 of his motion to dismiss. The same Abbe Lowell whose motion documented fraud on properties he wasn’t even defending—Brooklyn, Queens, Sterling Street—creating a roadmap for superseding charges.

They’re celebrating because one grand jury, with one set of prosecutors, presenting whatever they presented after a holiday weekend, didn’t get twelve votes. That’s not exoneration. That’s not vindication. That’s one proceeding.

The documents haven’t changed.

52 Illegal Leaks and Counting

I’ve now documented 52 instances of Department of Justice insiders illegally leaking non-public information to journalists. The full accounting is in my December 2 article, “Justice Obstructed: How 47 Illegal Leaks Exposed a DOJ Civil War.”

Since then, five more leaks:

Every one of these leaks is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1503 (obstruction of justice) or Rule 6(e) (grand jury secrecy). Every one helped build a narrative that the prosecution was politically motivated, that career prosecutors objected, that the evidence was weak.

And every one of the reporters who received these leaks refuses to answer basic questions about their sources.

I asked Sarah Lynch at Reuters when her sources first contacted her about Letitia James. She responded with a laughing emoji.

I asked Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney at Politico. Ben Penn at Bloomberg Law. Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian at NBC.

Still waiting.

To every journalist who received illegal leaks in this case: I’m ready to answer every question under oath. Will you do the same?

No Journalism License Required

Abbe Lowell called me a “right-wing investigator” and “fringe blogger.” Fine. Eric Trump blocked me years ago. Patrick Byrne—the Overstock CEO who called me “Sam Antar the Crook”—is an avid Trump supporter. Both sides seem to have a problem with me.

Good. That means I’m doing something right.

I’m a registered Democrat. I have no connection to the Trump campaign. I own my past completely—I was the CFO of Crazy Eddie and committed securities fraud in the 1980s. I cooperated with federal authorities and have spent thirty years since training law enforcement and exposing fraud.

My investigative partner Joel Gilbert and I have conducted site visits to every property, pulled every public record, and documented every contradiction. We do the work the credentialed press won’t do.

The difference between me and the credentialed press isn’t a license. It’s methodology:

What are they going to do? Disbar me from being a felon?

I’ve Seen This Movie Before

The Overstock case took two years. Patrick Byrne attacked me on every conference call. He called my forensic analysis “gibberish.” He said, “Show them to any accountant and they will confirm. He has no clue what he is talking about.”

But while Byrne was calling me a crook, the SEC attorneys who had prosecuted me at Crazy Eddie were telling Crain’s a different story. Richard Simpson: “He knows accounting backwards and forwards.” Thomas Newkirk: “When he decided to cooperate, he cooperated completely.”

By 2010, Overstock had restated its financial reports—correcting the exact violations I had identified. Richard Sauer, author of “Selling America Short,” wrote: “This dispute did not end happily for [Byrne]. KPMG sided with ex-felon Antar.” The same KPMG that had been Crazy Eddie’s auditors—the ones who missed our fraud—validated my analysis of Overstock’s fraud.

Why does this matter now? Because the Letitia James case is following the exact same script:

Overstock couldn’t spin its way out of a GAAP violation forever. Letitia James can’t spin her way out of a “zero personal use” tax return on a “primary residence” loan.

The attack phase is always loudest right before the documents win.

It wasn’t over then. It isn’t over now.

The GAO Farce

This week, the Government Accountability Office announced it’s investigating Bill Pulte—specifically, how he learned about Letitia James’s mortgage fraud.

Let me save them some time.

I published the Peronne Avenue investigation on February 8, 2025. Two months before Pulte’s criminal referral. Backed by publicly available documents from NYC ACRIS, Norfolk County property records, and New York State Financial Disclosures.

It’s free. It’s public. It has a search bar.

Here’s what the GAO is not investigating:

• The fraud itself—backed by 42 years of publicly available documents
• 52 illegal leaks from DOJ insiders to nine newsrooms
• The laundering pipeline that turned criminal leaks into “facts” in court filings

Senate Democrats asked a nonpartisan federal watchdog to investigate how someone read my blog.

Your tax dollars at work protecting Letitia James from public records.

The Laundering Pipeline

Here’s how it works:

1. DOJ insiders illegally leak information to reporters
2. Reporters publish stories citing “anonymous sources”
3. Abbe Lowell cites those stories in his motion to dismiss
4. Amicus briefs cite the media reports as established fact
5. Congressional Democrats cite the media reports in letters
6. Politicians cite the media reports in requests to the GAO
7. GAO opens investigation based on laundered leaks

The same illegal leaks, recycled through every institution, until they become the official narrative.

Congress Wants My Communications

On November 19, 2025, Congressman Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent an official letter to FHFA Director William Pulte.

Item 4 of his request demanded: “All communications and documents relating to Senator Adam Schiff, Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and/or Congressman Eric Swalwell, including but not limited to any communications with Sam Antar.”

I’m in the Congressional Record now.

Garcia’s letter cited media reports repeating the “insufficient evidence” narrative in Footnote 7—the same narrative that originated from illegal leaks. The laundering pipeline extends to Capitol Hill.

Congressman Garcia: You put my name in an official letter. You demanded communications with me. I responded with a direct challenge: invite me to testify publicly, under oath, with full documentation.

Your silence speaks volumes.

The Congressional Letters

The laundering pipeline reached Congress through multiple channels:

Every letter cites media reports. Every media report relies on illegal leaks. The same recycled narrative at every stage—and not one of these officials has addressed the underlying documentary evidence.

The Evidence Doesn’t Care

42 years of documented fraud. Four properties. Two states.

Grand juries, prosecutors, and politicians come and go. The documents don’t.

I’m Not Going Anywhere

The DOJ official said “no premature celebrations.” Good. Come back with a real presentation. Take more than a morning. Show the grand jury all four properties. Explain why the August 2 email says “WILL NOT” and the August 17 declaration says “I intend to occupy.”

Or don’t. Either way, I’ll be here.

If the DOJ can’t get it done, I’ll turn my attention to their 52 illegal leaks and the people inside the building who wanted this case to fail.

Direct Challenges

To Attorney General Letitia James: You called the charges “baseless.” I have four contradictory sworn statements about Peronne Avenue alone. Pick one. Under oath. I’ll match you document for document.

To Abbe Lowell: You cited my blog in footnote 12 of your motion to dismiss. You called me a “fringe blogger” and “right-wing investigator.” You also inadvertently documented fraud on properties you weren’t even defending—Brooklyn, Queens, Sterling Street. Thanks for the roadmap. Try to stop me from bringing your client to justice.

To Congressman Robert Garcia: You put my name in an official letter to FHFA Director Pulte, entered into the Congressional Record. You demanded “all communications with Sam Antar.” I challenged you publicly to invite me to testify under oath with full documentation. You went silent. The offer stands. Anytime you’re ready.

To the journalists who received illegal leaks: Sarah Lynch. Josh Gerstein. Kyle Cheney. Ben Penn. Carol Leonnig. Ken Dilanian. I’ve asked each of you when your sources first contacted you about Letitia James. None of you have answered. I have been transparent with my sources—public records, no leaks, no gossip. Your turn.

To Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche: Lindsey Halligan—with no prosecutorial experience—secured an indictment on all counts. Then you took over. Six leaks positioned you as the “reasonable skeptic” who “questioned the legal viability” of charges. Six leaks portrayed you favorably while the prosecution team got blamed. Then ten days after dismissal—the week after Thanksgiving—someone decided to present to a new grand jury. It adjourned by lunchtime.

You oversee case strategy and resources. Why December 4? Who benefits from a failure you can always redo?

I’m on the record. Are you?

To the GAO: You’re investigating how Bill Pulte learned about Letitia James’s mortgage fraud. I published it February 8, 2025. It’s free. It has a search bar. While you’re at it, investigate the 52 illegal leaks from DOJ insiders that actually constitute federal crimes.

Grand juries, prosecutors, and politicians come and go.

The documents don’t.

Under oath works for me. How about you?

This investigation was sourced entirely from public documents: property records, court filings, financial disclosures, and the media’s own reporting. I follow the documents, not the politics.

Follow @SamAntar on X for updates on this investigation

Written by Sam Antar | Forensic Accountant & Fraud Investigator

© 2025 Sam Antar. All rights reserved.