MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday urged the Justice Department to refuse a Trump administration official’s request to prosecute the Democrat for mortgage fraud, calling it “improper political retribution” based on “long-disproven allegations.”

Filed separately in state courts in New York and Pennsylvania and a federal court in Manhattan and totaling 20 counts, the charges brand Luigi Mangione as both a terrorist and a stalker, accuse him of carrying a ghost gun and a fake ID, and enable prosecutors to seek life in state prison and the federal death penalty.