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  • šŸ”µ Letitia James Hit with Criminal Referral

šŸ”µ Letitia James Hit with Criminal Referral

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, April 16.

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James — who infamously declared that ā€œno one is above the lawā€ when she was targeting Donald Trump — was hit with a federal criminal referral for instances of alleged mortgage fraud on Tuesday, according to a letter obtained by The Post.

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte sent the missive to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, alleging that James had ā€œfalsified recordsā€ to get home loans for a property in Virginia that she claimed was her ā€œprincipal residenceā€ in 2023 — while still serving as a New York state prosecutor.

That occurred in late August 2023, weeks before James began her civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization for overinflating the values of many of its properties, which ended in a $454 million judgment.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing Donald Trump over tariffs in an aggressive move to end the president’s stranglehold on global commerce.

Newsom’s lawsuit, announced Wednesday morning with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, is the first challenge from a U.S. state against Trump’s signature foreign policy cudgel.

California, the world’s fifth largest economy, stands to lose billions to tariffs with major state industries from Silicon Valley to agriculture heavily dependent on global trade.

The White House said China is facing up to a 245 percent tariff on imports to the U.S. ā€œas a result of its retaliatory actions,ā€ as the trade war between the world’s two largest economies continues to heat up.

The top potential tariff was referenced in a fact sheet published by the White House late on Tuesday. It accompanied an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that launched an investigation into the ā€œnational security risks posed by U.S. reliance on imported processed critical minerals and their derivative products.ā€

A White House official told Newsweek the calculation reflects the maximum potential rate some Chinese goods could face, combining the reciprocal tariff, the fentanyl tariff, and existing Section 301 tariffs that go up to 100 percent.

A heckler at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) town hall on Tuesday was tased by police as supporters of the congresswoman cheered.

At least three people were removed from the town hall after interrupting the event, including a man who had to be tased by police after he became violent.

In footage of the incident, posted by several reporters, multiple police officers could be seen struggling to restrain the man while escorting him out of the venue.

Britain’s top court ruled only those born female can be considered women, a landmark judgment that excludes transgender women from the legal definition and paves the way for tighter limits on female-only spaces and services.

The decision Wednesday by the U.K.’s Supreme Court came after a yearslong legal fight over the definition of a woman in a 2010 equality law, and could have far-reaching implications for the protections and freedoms given to transgender women in the U.K.

ā€œThe unanimous decision of this court is that the terms ā€˜woman’ and ā€˜sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological women and biological sex,ā€ said the court’s deputy president, Lord Hodge.

About 20,000 Internal Revenue Service employees have expressed interest in accepting the Trump administration’s latest deferred resignation offer, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC on Tuesday.

The agency, which grew to more than 102,000 workers in 2024, would shrink by roughly 20% if all of those staffers ultimately take the buyout offer.

Those who accept will go on paid leave through the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

Nvidia, the company most closely connected to the AI boom, once again finds itself in the middle of the U.S.’s tech rivalry with China.

The chipmaker’s shares dropped almost 7% in post-market trading after the company revealed it could no longer export its H20 chips to Chinese customers. In a securities filing, the chipmaker said that it would take a $5.5 billion charge due to the export ban.

Export controls now extend to Nvidia’s H20 chip, AMD MI308 chip, and their equivalents. AMD’s shares fell 7.6% post-market.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s lead in the race for governor in Ohio jumped significantly after President Donald Trump offered his endorsement, internal polling by Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio reveals.

Ramaswamy announced his run for Ohio governor in February, promising to ā€œlead Ohio to be the state of excellence.ā€

As a result, he is first facing off in the GOP primary against Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. In January, prior to his announcement, Ramaswamy was already leading Yost in a hypothetical primary matchup, garnering 52 percent support to Yost’s 18 percent — a 34-point lead.

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