United States: A criminal investigation launched by the FBI has been activated in mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James, which President Donald Trump has publicly taken aim at due to his legal action against her, several U.S. media outlets reported on Thursday. 

Allegations Surface Against Trump Legal Foe 

James has also filed suit with attorneys general from other states to challenge Trump’s second-term agenda. Following Trump’s first term in office, she filed a civil fraud suit against him, which landed him with millions of dollars in penalties, as reported by Reuters. 

Trump has demanded the prosecution of James and New York State Justice Arthur Engoron, the judge who presided over that case. 

In a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, sent last month, Trump appointee Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte revealed that James “falsified records” to get loans for a home she bought in 2023 in Virginia and Brooklyn, the New York Post reported. 

Retaliation or Real Case? 

In a statement, James’ lawyer Abbe Lowell described the allegations as “baseless and long-discredited”. 

BREAKING NEWS:

Big Tish is going down!

FBI launches criminal probe into NY AG Letitia James over alleged mortgage fraud.

Accusations include falsifying records to secure favorable loans on properties in NY & VA.

James denies claims, calls them "baseless" and politically… pic.twitter.com/YNq8dgkI3L

— Mila Joy (@MilaLovesJoe) May 8, 2025

“This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact,” Lowell said. “If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.” 

According to the Times Union newspaper, which reported this, the Albany office of the FBI is taking up the case of others who allegedly attempted to kill journalists, it said, quoting law enforcement sources who are versed in the matter. The initiation of an investigation will not necessarily result in filing charges. 

No Official Charges Yet 

The Department of Justice did not make a statement. A spokesman for the Albany office of the FBI refused to comment. 

James filed a suit in 2022 that claimed Trump and his family businesses exaggerated his net worth by up to $3.6 billion a year over a period of ten years to deceive bankers into providing him with better loan terms. That lawsuit resulted in Trump being ordered in February 2024 to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for deceitful net worth margin expansion to take advantage of lenders, as reported by Reuters. 

James has also sued the Trump administration over its policies (its orders on election overhauls, cuts to health and education, among other moves) alongside other democratic attorneys general. She and other Democratic state attorneys general have also criticized Trump’s orders that go after law firms and judges. 

United States: On Wednesday, a federal judge required the Trump administration to provide explanations about the legal basis behind its deportation effort against Mahmoud Khalil, who is a Palestinian activist whose stay in the United States poses alleged threats to U.S. foreign policy interests, as reported by Reuters. 

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz in Newark, New Jersey, demanded that the administration provide a full list of all cases in which U.S. officials have applied the law against Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who is currently enrolled as a Columbia University graduate student. 

The court demanded detailed information about the risks U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified in his assessment of Mahmoud Khalil’s impact on U.S. interests while staying in the United States. The court granted the government until 9:30 a.m. ET (1330 GMT) on Thursday for its response. 

Background of the Case 

The authorities arrested Khalil in March while he stood with his wife, who maintains U.S. citizenship, at their New York City apartment building. After securing permanent residency in the United States last year, Khalil has remained in detention without any formal charges since his arrest. 

A federal judge instructed the Trump administration on Wednesday to detail the legal precedent for its plan to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist whose presence in the country the government alleges could harm U.S. foreign policy interests. https://t.co/XwS7PeA2W6

— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) May 7, 2025

The administration plans to deport Khalil because immigration law includes a provision allowing deportation of “an alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have serious adverse foreign policy outcomes.” 

The Trump administration officials have justified deporting student visa and green card holders by linking their Palestinian advocacy and Israel criticism to a risk to U.S. foreign policy. 

A court in Vermont issued bail for Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi last month, which dealt a blow to administration officials. 

Legal and Political Controversy 

Khalil faced deportation per a decision from the Louisiana immigration judge, who relied solely on two-page statements by Rubio about foreign policy consequences in April. 

According to Rubio Khalil should be kicked out of school due to engaging in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities that antagonize Jewish students in the United States.” 

According to Khalil’s legal team, events affecting New York City do not qualify as matters within U.S. foreign policy. The court received interviews from CNN and other news outlets with Khalil, who explicitly condemned antisemitic behavior. 

🚨🇺🇸🇵🇸 JUDGE FREES COLUMBIA PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTER MAHDAWI ON BAIL

Establishment-critical narrative: Trump's focus on deporting anti-Israel protesters is striking. To the surprise of many, the people being targeted aren't illegal immigrants but student visa holders and, even… pic.twitter.com/sZ9Sv3k6cI

— Verity (@improvethenews) May 1, 2025

At this point, Farbiarz has put a stop to Khalil’s potential deportation so he can assess whether the arrest violated constitutional speech rights. 

Deportation Temporarily Blocked 

The legal community points out that law enforcement agencies have few examples of using this specific targeting approach with Khalil. This law received only one formal court examination through the case of Mario Ruiz Massieu, who was a former Mexican assistant attorney general who was detained in 1995. 

The detention of Massieu evolved into a court battle, which Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, President Donald Trump’s elder sister, officially presided over. Her initial decision to strike down the law because it was unconstitutional fell apart when appellate authorities shot it down using procedural grounds, as reported by Reuters. 

Khalil emerged from a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria as both an Algerian citizen and someone who received lawful permanent residency in the United States last year. 

United States: A federal court denied on Monday a request from the Trump administration to rescind the temporary protected status of thousands of Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who reside in the United States. 

A Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared that they would not suspend a judicial order used to block the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts in shortening the “parole” status granted to migrants during President Joe Biden’s administration, as reported by Reuters. 

The administration took a major step in Republican President Trump’s immigration hardening policies by expanding deportation efforts toward migrants who previously received legal living and working rights in the United States. 

Parole Termination Deemed Overreach 

The administration maintained Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held the power to terminate the migrants’ status on a wholesale basis while noting that the judge’s order made the U.S. government maintain “hundreds of thousands of aliens in the country against its will.” 

A federal appeals court rejected a request by the Trump administration to allow it to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans living in the United States https://t.co/UBc4yEyAfD pic.twitter.com/2pORpGnsiH

— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) May 5, 2025

However, a panel of three judges, all of whom were Democratic presidents’ nominees, stated that Noem “has not at this point made a strong showing’ that her categorical termination of plaintiffs’ parole is likely to be sustained on appeal.” 

Rights Advocates Applaud Decision 

Lawyer Karen Tumlin of Justice Action Center praised the decision made by the court. According to Tumlin, “the administration’s behavior amounted to reckless and illegal conduct.” 

With this decision, the administration has the opportunity to seek intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Next Stop: The Supreme Court? 

“The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law to our immigration system,” Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that.” 

A lawsuit from immigrant rights advocates who defended migrant interests sought to stop the agency’s decision, which delayed different programs launched by Biden’s administration that let Ukrainians, Afghans, Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans,, as well as Venezuelans,, access the country. 

A U.S. appeals court has rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke legal status for about 400,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, marking a legal victory for those protected under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. pic.twitter.com/0J78tyTFor

— Al-Estiklal English (@alestiklalen) May 6, 2025

Biden-Era Programs Under Threat 

The Homeland Security Department published a Federal Register notice on March 25 that announced they would terminate the two-year parole status afforded to approximately 400,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. 

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani put a stop to the agency’s decision on April 25 through her ruling because the agency revoked parole privileges for migrants as a general policy without individual examination, as reported by Reuters. 

Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the department’s only justification for not letting the migrants’ status expire naturally was its mistaken belief that allowing parole to expire would prevent them from deporting migrants faster.