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FILE - Senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti makes the victory sign in front of the media during his arrival to testify in a trial at a Jerusalem court, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on mortgage fraud charges. It鈥檚 a case she says is bogus, cooked up by the Justice Department to please Trump. The prosecution is a turnabout after James spent years investigating and suing Trump. She鈥檚 peppered him and his administration with lawsuits challenging policies and won a judgment that he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings. Prosecutors say that after James bought a house in Virginia in 2020, she violated a mortgage requirement that she primarily use it as a second home for a year. They say she instead rented it out to a family.

Bill Pulte has become a significant player in the Trump administration. Known for his aggressive online persona and bitter public fights with several family members, Pulte currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He has used his position to target Trump鈥檚 political adversaries, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was recently indicted. His past includes a contentious relationship with his family鈥檚 company, PulteGroup, and a public feud with relatives. Pulte gained attention on social media by giving away money, but his actions have also drawn criticism.

Federal judges in two states are considering challenges to the government鈥檚 treatment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Salvadoran national's mistaken deportation to his home country galvanized opposition to President Donald Trump鈥檚 sweeping immigration agenda. In a Maryland court, Abrego Garcia has challenged efforts to deport him to the southern African country of Eswatini. Abrego Garcia's attorneys claim the Republican administration is illegally using the immigration system to punish him after the embarrassment of his mistaken deportation. Attorneys in Tennessee have made similar claims about human smuggling charges brought against Abrego Garcia. The Tennessee judge has concluded the prosecution may be an illegal retaliation. Hearings are scheduled in both cases Friday.

A federal judge has tossed out a defamation lawsuit Drake brought against Universal Music Group, labeling the alleged libelous words as opinion. Judge Jeannette A. Vargas rejected the lawsuit on Thursday in a written opinion. The January lawsuit alleged that UMG published and promoted a track on rival Kendrick Lamar鈥檚 diss track 鈥淣ot Like Us鈥 even though it included false pedophilia allegations against Drake and suggested listeners should resort to vigilante justice. Lamar was not named in the lawsuit. Universal Music Group, the parent record label for both artists, had denied the allegations. The lawsuit alleged the track led to violence Drake鈥檚 home in Toronto.

A Texas appeals court has paused the execution of Robert Roberson, who was set to be the first in the U.S. executed for a murder linked to shaken baby syndrome. Roberson, claiming innocence, was scheduled for lethal injection on Oct. 16. The court's decision doesn't overturn his conviction but instructs a review of issues in his case. Shaken baby syndrome diagnoses have faced scrutiny in recent years, and Roberson has drawn support from lawmakers and public figures. His legal team argues his daughter died from pneumonia complications, not abuse. Prosecutors say Roberson hit his daughter and violently shook her.

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Siblings of a suspect charged in California's deadly Palisades fire walk outside of a federal courthouse in Orlando, Fla. after their brother, Jonathan Rinderknecht, was ordered to remain in jail during a detention hearing on Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Schneider)