Newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan announced the charges Thursday. James was ordered to appear in court on Oct. 24 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Halligan was named U.S. attorney by Trump after Trump ousted her predecessor, Erik Siebert, who sources say had expressed doubts internally about bringing cases against James and former FBI Director James Comey.

As ABC News first reported, sources said Siebert and other career prosecutors in Virginia determined there was no clear evidence James had knowingly committed mortgage fraud, but Trump officials nevertheless pushed Siebert to bring criminal charges against her.