The deaths of two CIA agents in April following an operation to dismantle a drug lab in northern Mexico have led to the unusual federal charge of “treason” against a former Chihuahua state attorney general. He is also accused in state court of “illegal exercise of public office.”

The defendant, César Jáuregui, is being held in pretrial detention at a maximum-security prison for allegedly authorizing the agents’ participation in the operation. President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration neither authorized it nor was informed of it.

A state judge will determine Thursday whether to initiate the trial in Chihuahua courts on state charges. The federal judge will decide on Saturday — one week after his arrest — whether or not to indict him in the separate case for treason.

The deaths of the U.S. officials in an opposition-led state fueled speculation about the scope of the Trump administration’s actions on Mexican soil.…