42 FBI task forces around the country are investigating some of the top mortgage firms, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for fraud. AIG and Lehman Bros. are also subjects of the investigation.

The FBI says it has opened 36 investigations so far. As to what's under investigation:

Sources tell ABC News the investigations are looking into whether company officials systematically misled investors about the financial strength of their institutions.

FBI Director Robert Mueller testified about the investigations on Sept. 16 at a House Judiciary Committee meeting. One of the areas under investigation: whether the companies misstated their assets. From the transcript (available at Lexis.com)

On September 25, the 10th Circuit, en banc, will conduct a rehearing of a three judge panel's reversal of former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio's insider trading conviction.

The issue is whether the trial judge improperly excluded testimony from Nacchio's expert witness who would have disagreed with two Government experts on an issue that was central to Nacchio's guilt or innocence.

This is about fundamental fairness and affects defendants in all cases, not just Nacchio or white collar cases. A defendant’s ability to call witnesses on his behalf at trial is an integral part of the Sixth Amendment right to put on a defense. [More...]

In Idaho, the feds are charging a woman with a crime that carries up to 6 months in jail for spilling a soda.

U.S. Attorney Tom Moss plans to bring two charges against Natalie Walters, 39, stemming from an Aug. 20 incident at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Idaho Statesman reports. If convicted, she could face up to six months in federal prison on each count.

Walters, who routinely takes her father to the Boise hospital for treatment, said there is no posted price for soda refills at the center's cafeteria, and she's typically charged between $1 and $1.50 for filling her mug, according to the paper. On Aug. 20, she was charged $3.80, which lead to the dispute and Walters dumping the soda on the cafeteria counter.

Walters is charged with three misdemanors: [More...]

David Pollitt was convicted of a number of sexual assaults more than a quarter century ago. When he was released from prison, he moved in with his sister in New London, Connecticut -- much to the displeasure of Gov. Rell, who apparently doesn't think anyone with sex offense convictions should be allowed to live outside of prison. Rell was unsuccessful in her attempt to block Pollitt's move.

Pollitt remains on supervision, equipped with a GPS tracking device. For about 15 minutes on September 3, the device did not indicate that Pollitt was at his sister's home. That was all it took for Rell to demand that Pollitt be returned to prison immediately -- no investigation, no hearing, just lock him up. The governor's press release, demanding immediate incarceration for the "apparent" violation, all but accuses Pollitt's family of lying when they said he didn't leave the premises.

It turns out that the GPS device failed (as it often did, exactly as the family explained) and that Pollitt hadn't violated the terms of his supervision at all. So did Gov. Rell deliver the apology that Pollitt and his family deserved? Far from it. [more...]

Andrew Cohen of CBS writes of two criminal cases that begin this week. One, the Las Vegas trial of O.J. Simpson, is high profile and will garner the attention, while the other, the scheduled Texecution of Charles Dean Hood, has far more national significance.

TChris and my earlier coverage of Charles Dean Hood is here, here and here.

Imam Mohammad Qatanani is fortunate that his case wasn't heard by an immigration judge selected by Monica Goodling on the basis of fealty to a right wing ideology. Alberto Riefkohl began working as an immigration judge before George Bush took office. He has a reputation for fairness. Yesterday Reifkohl denied the government's deportation request, a decision that will allow Qatanani to become a permanent resident of the United States.

Immigration authorities argued that Qatanani, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, New Jersey, failed to disclose on his residency application an arrest and conviction in Israel for assisting Hamas. Qatanani argued that he was administratively detained for three months but never convicted.

Kwame Kilpatrick has resigned as mayor of Detroit. Kilpatrick, who was facing a number of felony charges arising out of lies he told about an extramarital affair with an aide and other improper actions he took to keep the affair secret, resigned as a condition of a plea agreement to resolve those charges.

He agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice, pay restitution to the city of $1 million, give up his law license, forfeit his state pension and serve 120 days in the Wayne County jail. His resignation is to take effect within 14 days. All other charges were dismissed, and the judge scheduled sentencing for Oct. 28.

Detroit has been even more dysfunctional than usual since the Kilpatrick scandal became public. Now that this chapter in the city's history has ended, Detroit has a chance to make a new beginning. The Detroit City Council president will take over until a new mayor is elected.

Another NFL player -- the third in 18 months -- has been shot.

Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot and critically wounded outside an apartment building early Tuesday as he and a former Jacksonville teammate waited for two women they had met at a nightclub, police said.

Collier was waiting in a Cadillac Escalade with former Jaguars defensive end Kenneth Pettway when someone fired shots through the window for reasons that are as yet unknown. At last report, Collier was in critical condition.

An episode of 48 Hours Mystery airing tonight on CBS will explore Michael Skakel's conviction of murder in the death of his neighbor Martha Moxley.

A new one-hour episode of 48 Hours Mystery will focus on a videotaped deposition by Skakel's ex-classmate at Brunswick School, Gitano "Tony" Bryant, in which he claims two Bronx, N.Y., teens confessed to him that they killed Moxley, as well as Skakel's two pending legal appeals to reverse his conviction.

TalkLeft's coverage of the Skakel case is collected here.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, indicted for perjury in a text-messaging sex scandal, was arrested last week and jailed for a bond violation. He had traveled to a business event in Canada. The next day he was charged with additional offenses.

Monday, over objections of prosecutors, the Judge modified his bond conditions to toss the home monitoring (ankle bracelet) condition and allow him to come to Denver for the Democratic National Covention.

Prosecutors may appeal. Kilpatrick's lawyer is the excellent James Thomas of Detroit, a long time TL pal.

Cheese whiz! Can it really be a crime for town council members to pick up their toys and leave the sandbox?

Trustees Sharon Eineman and James Ulinski walked out of Rosso Memorial Hall, where township meetings are held, about five minutes after the meeting started because they didn't want to vote on an agenda item, forcing the three remaining officials to end the meeting because they lacked a quorum. The township's attorney, Robert Huth, said the two trustees could be charged with misconduct of public office.

"It was extremely childish," Treasurer Darrin York said. "You are here to do a job. You can't walk out of a meeting because you don't like the way things are going to turn out."

If childish behavior by elected officials is a crime, the president and most members of Congress should be behind bars. Or at least on probation (with electronic monitoring, of course).

Microbiologist Gerry Andrews points to additional weaknesses in the publicly disclosed evidence against Bruce Ivins:

Dr. Ivins, for instance, was asked to analyze the anthrax envelope that was sent to Mr. Daschle’s office on Oct. 9, 2001. When his team analyzed the powder, they found it to be a startlingly refined weapons-grade anthrax spore preparation, the likes of which had never been seen before by personnel at Fort Detrick. It is extremely improbable that this type of preparation could ever have been produced at Fort Detrick, certainly not of the grade and quality found in that envelope.

Does the FBI have a credible theory to explain where and how Ivins weaponized the anthrax? Could he have done it on his own? Some scientists think not. [more ...]