Donald Trump holds up a news story about New York Attorney General Letitia James on Jan. 11, 2024, following closing arguments at his civil fraud trial in New York City.

How’s this for bad political theater: A hand-picked agency head of President Donald J. Trump’s sends a criminal referral to Donald J. Trump’s attorney general alleging various crimes by one of Donald J. Trump’s political foes, and Donald J. Trump promptly calls her, on Donald J. Trump’s social media site, a “crook” and demands her resignation.

Well, not so fast.

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It remains to be seen whether Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, engaged in willful mortgage fraud, as the Trump administration has claimed. But the case must be seen in the context of their past battles.

This kerfuffle started a week ago when Wiliam J. Pulte, director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, forwarded a criminal referral to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleging Ms. James may have “falsified........

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