AG James Indicted Over Fraud Claims

Attorney General Letitia James was indicted by a grand jury in Virginia, the second of President Donald Trump’s perceived political enemies to be criminally charged in two weeks.

She was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to financial institutions, according to an indictment made public on Thursday.

“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution,” James said.

In 2022, James sued Trump, alleging he reaped “illegal profit” by inflating the value of assets including Trump Tower. The complaint alleged Trump and his sons carried out the scheme to get better loan terms from Deutsche Bank and other lenders.

She won a nearly half-billion dollar penalty against Trump at trial, but a New York appeals court in August vacated the fine while upholding the finding that Trump was liable for fraud. Both sides have appealed, escalating the case to the state’s highest court.

The indictment against James alleges that to get favorable mortgage terms she falsely represented that a Virginia property she bought in 2020 would be used a secondary residence. Prosecutors claim that James used it as an investment property that she rented to a family and didn’t intend to occupy it.

Trump called for legal action against James in a message to US Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media last month. The US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia recently secured a grand jury indictment against ex-FBI Director James Comey, whose prosecution the president also publicly called for.

James’ initial appearance in a Norfolk, Va., federal court is set for Oct. 24. She’s represented by Abbe Lowell. Read more from my colleagues Erik Larson, Myles Miller, and Chris Strohm.

YOU VOTED: Get Me Alex Spiro!

We asked. You answered.

Quinn Emanuel’s Alex Spiro is the attorney most of you would call if you found yourself in white-collar legal trouble, according to our reader survey.

The lawyer, who’s represented high-profile clients like Elon Musk and Eric Adams, won over 80% of the vote in the survey, with 273 people weighing in this week.

The voting included a surge late in the week — thanks in part to support from his colleagues at the firm.

Quinn Emanuel partner Benjamin Finestone voted for Spiro and passed the poll along to two coworkers. “Alex is the most complete lawyer that I’ve come across,” Finestone said. Spiro himself, and Quinn Emanuel spokespeople, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Spiro beat out the duo of Marc Agnifilo and Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who took second place in our polling, as well as third-place finisher Robbie Kaplan. The other candidates in the survey were Barry Berke, Marc Mukasey, Alexandra Shapiro, or “someone else.”

The Agnifilos didn’t respond to a request for comment. Kaplan said in an email: “While I don’t practice criminal (only civil) law, I do have an aversion to bullies and so I am honored to be ranked so highly on a list of people to call if you are in trouble.”

Kaplan’s former law partner, Sean Hecker of Hecker Fink, scored an impressive three write-in votes. Other write-ins included William Burck of Quinn Emanuel, Gary Naftalis of Herbert Smith and Randall Jackson of Wachtell, Lipton.

Tax attorney Matthew E. Rappaport wrote in Naftalis. “Give me the guy who has 40+ years in this game,” Rappaport said in an email.

Watch this space for future polls and drop us a line if you’ve got a burning question you want answered by your peers.

Weinstein Aims for Another Post-Trial Win

Harvey Weinstein’s hoping to get another guilty verdict tossed, but he’ll have to overcome a high bar.

The ex-movie mogul’s lawyers are arguing Manhattan state court Judge Curtis Farber should set aside Weinstein’s June sex assault conviction over juror misconduct.

The judge’s failure to investigate the alleged rancor on the panel when jurors told the judge about it at the time is also grounds for throwing out the verdict, the motion argues.

Two affidavits from jurors said they felt coerced into voting to convict the Miramax co-founder. After one such juror told fellow panel members Weinstein was not guilty, a fellow juror replied, “We have to get rid of you,” according to the affidavit.

“I was so afraid of the repercussions and feared for my physical safety that I ultimately voted with the majority.” Read More

The documents offer close-up accounts of jury-room dramatics, but it remains to be seen if it’ll persuade Farber or a higher court to throw out the verdict.

“It is hard to live with yourself for capitulating and easy to claim that it is not really your fault,” said New York criminal defense attorney Ron Kuby, who isn’t involved in the Weinstein case. The law is clear, however, that a verdict can’t be overturned over jurors who try to “impeach their own verdict” after the fact, Kuby said.

Doing so, “would open the door to massive, post-trial jury tampering,” Kuby added.

Tying the issue to Farber’s alleged failure to adequately address juror concerns at the time is “clever,” Kuby said, but “it is still extraordinarily hard to prevail.”

Weinstein has pulled off a post-verdict victory before. In 2024, New York’s highest court overturned the initial sex assault conviction against him. That led to the New York retrial earlier this year.

There could be a third trial. While Weinstein was convicted of sex assault in June, a mistrial was declared on a separate rape charge. In court Thursday, Farber said Weinstein, who’s jailed at Rikers, was reluctant to take a plea offer on the rape charge.

Farber didn’t set a new trial date and has yet to sentence Weinstein on the assault conviction. Weinstein was also found guilty of sexual assault in California in a case that’s on appeal.

They Said It

“If the country’s justice system is going to operate fairly and justly, lawmakers and judges must reject the executive’s attempts to consolidate power and use their authority to check and balance the president as the founders intended.”

—New York State Bar Association President Kathleen Sweet, in a Bloomberg Law Insight piece, says the Trump administration’s installation of US attorneys without Senate confirmation, or the approval of federal judges, violates the constitutional balance of power. Read More

Finance

Federal Prosecutors Are Looking Into First Brands Collapse

Federal prosecutors are looking into the circumstances around the spectacular collapse of auto-parts supplier First Brands Group, according to a person familiar with the matter.

First Brands Blindsides Wall Street in ‘Black Box’ Loan Fiasco

In hindsight, the telltale signs of trouble were piling up: the Zoom calls where the owner kept his camera off; the angry pushback from his brother when investors asked for invoices to back up their loans; the frequent late payments to suppliers; and the whispers of large off-the-books financing arrangements.

SEC Offers Relief for IPOs Stuck in Limbo During Shutdown

The US Securities and Exchange Commission offered some relief to would-be public companies stuck in regulatory limbo as the government shutdown drags on.

In the Courts

NJ Businessman Who Bribed Menendez, Testified Avoids Prison

A New Jersey businessman who conspired to bribe former US Senator Bob Menendez but then became a key government witness avoided a prison term in the corruption case.

NY Appeals Court Mulls Whether Charter Should Get Tech Tax Rate

A New York state appellate panel chewed over whether Charter Communications Inc.'s combined group was entitled to a tax break for tech companies if not every included unit met the requirements during oral argument Thursday.

DOJ Defends Posts Amplifying Trump Claim That Mangione Is Guilty

The Justice Department said it didn’t violate court rules when staffers posted a clip to their X accounts showing President Donald Trump saying Luigi Mangione “shot someone in the back.”

Drake’s ‘Not Like Us’ Universal Music Defamation Suit Tossed

Drake lost another battle in his rap beef with Kendrick Lamar when a federal judge on Thursday dismissed the Canadian artist’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group NV over Lamar’s mega-hit “Not Like Us.”

Comms Group WPP Misled on Media Arm’s Health, Investor Alleges

WPP PLC made overly rosy statements about the competitiveness and financial health of its media division before disappointing results caused a stock drop, an investor says in a suit filed Thursday.

Luxury Car Service Gets Former Drivers’ Wage Claims Pared Back

A luxury car service convinced a federal judge to throw out a group of former limousine drivers’ proposed class wage-and-hour claims based on New York law.

Policy & Politics

NYC Council Votes to Require Employer Pay Data by Race, Sex

Large businesses in New York City would have to report pay data by employee race and gender to enable a citywide pay equity study, under legislation heading to Mayor Eric Adams (D) for signature.

Blue States Urged to Accept Trump’s $1,700 Private School Credit

A controversial new law championed by President Donald Trump to funnel federal dollars into private schools is fueling a campaign to get Democratic governors to opt in to the first national school choice program in the US.

Business & Practice

Law Firms’ Trump Deals Escape NY Lawyer Ethics Investigation

A disciplinary body for New York lawyers is putting off an ethics probe into major law firms’ deals with President Donald Trump.

Ex-NJ US Attorney Grace Fired by Trump Joins McCarter & English

An attorney who was briefly the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey before being fired by President Donald Trump has joined McCarter & English as a litigation partner.

Nelson Mullins Brings On Two Employment Partners in NY, Miami

Salvador Simao and Luis Hansen joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough as employment law attorneys, the firm announced Thursday. Simao joined as a partner in the New York office, and Hansen joined as a partner in the Miami office.

Pryor Cashman Recruits Caitlin Connolly for NY Family Law Team

Caitlin Connolly joined Pryor Cashman as a partner in its family law group in New York, the firm announced Thursday.

Commentary & Opinion

What’s the Difference Between NYSE and Polymarket?: Aaron Brown

News that the owner of the New York Stock Exchange is buying a substantial interest in crypto-betting entity Polymarket made me think of Michael Crichton’s warning in Jurassic Park.

Editor’s Pick

The Credit-Suisse Banker Who Turned Fraudster and Lost It All

At first glance, Andrew Pearse’s story is a familiar tale of hubris, the downfall of a selfish and reckless banker. A closer look reveals not just an epic story on a global scale, but a complex tale of one financier’s rise, fall, and possible redemption.