Standard and Poor’s is the first rating agency to face civil fraud charges from the federal government. The Justice Department filed a civil complaint against the company on Monday. It’s the first federal enforcement action against a credit rating firm since the financial crisis almost five years ago.

The attorney general believes a section New York charities law enables him to regulate any group that collects more than $25,000 from New York state donors.

Eric Schneiderman, New York State Attorney General and co-chair of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, talks about his latest efforts to combat synthetic drugs and prescription drug abuse, plus other items on his agenda.

Recap from It's a Free Country.

Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's A Free Country, we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. Today on the Brian Lehrer Show, Eric Schneiderman, New York State Attorney General and  co-chair of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, talked about his appointment to co-chair the federal working group examining mortgage fraud.

The New York Attorney General has filed suit against the owner of an out-of-state power plant he claims is polluting New York's air.