New Delhi, Oct. 10 -- A five-page filing in Virginia turns a mortgage form into a national test of DOJ norms, partisan pressure, and New York power.

New York - The clash between legal process and political theatre narrowed to a few lines on a mortgage form, and then widened again to fill a national stage. Hours after a grand jury in Alexandria returned an indictment, New York's attorney general stood accused of presenting a Virginia home purchase in ways that, prosecutors say, trimmed costs she was not entitled to. The paper trail is tight. The implications are sprawling. What might otherwise read like a routine bank case now arrives inside a moment defined by accusations of retaliation, a Justice Department at odds with itself, and a co...