2A/GUNS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is ready to sign a bill aimed at preventing school violence like the mass shooting that killed 17 in Florida last month, which would boost funding for coordination between schools and law enforcement and which the House of Representatives is poised to pass later on Wednesday [3-14-18]. As […]
Category: Justice Department
3/13/2018
2A/ATF/GUNS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Days after 17 people were gunned down at a Florida high school last month, President Trump vowed to overhaul some of the nation’s gun laws, promising to ‘do more to protect our children.’ The president announced a string of changes, including a ban of so-called bump stock devices, which can make […]
3/13/2018
ENERGY/ETHICS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/RICK PERRY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VA: “President Donald Trump is considering replacing Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin with candidates including Energy Secretary Rick Perry, according to an administration official, after an inspector general’s report last month said Dr. Shulkin had misspent taxpayer money during an official trip to Europe last year. The official said the discussions […]
3/7/2018
CALIFORNIA/IMMIGRATION/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SANCTUARY CITIES: “The simmering battle between California and the Trump administration escalated Wednesday [3-7-18] with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and California Gov. Jerry Brown trading barbs over a new Justice Department lawsuit that seeks to strike down the state’s immigration laws… For months now, Democratic-led California has positioned itself as a political, economic […]
3/6/2018
CYBERWAR/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration could impose new sanctions on Russian entities as soon as next week, a senior administration official told CNN. Among the entities being considered for sanctions is the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-linked Russian troll group, the official said. The Internet Research Agency was at the heart of a […]
3/6/2018
GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Two Republican chairmen in the House are asking the Justice Department to consider the appointment of a second special counsel to investigate matters related to how and why material gathered from a former British spy was used to spy on an associate of Donald Trump. House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte […]
3/6/2018
CALIFORNIA/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/SANCTUARY CITIES: “The Trump administration escalated what had been a war of words over California’s immigration agenda, filing a lawsuit late Tuesday [3-6-18] that amounted to a pre-emptive strike against the liberal state’s so-called sanctuary laws. The Justice Department sued California; Gov. Jerry Brown; and the state’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra, over three state […]
3/6/2018
DREAMERS/IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Federal Judge in Maryland has just ruled that ‘President Trump has the right to end DACA.’ President Obama had 8 years to fix this problem, and didn’t. I am waiting for the Dems, they are running for the hills!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Mar. 6, 2018 08:46am […]
3/5/2018
DREAMERS/IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “A federal judge in Maryland on Monday [3-5-18] struck down a a challenge to President Donald Trump’s decision to end protections for undocumented immigrants, stating that while he does not agree with Trump’s move, it is not his job to set immigration policy. ‘This Court does not like the outcome of this case, […]
3/1/2018
FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A Justice Department review is expected to criticize the former F.B.I. deputy director, Andrew G. McCabe, for authorizing the disclosure of information about a continuing investigation to journalists, according to four people familiar with the inquiry. Such a damning report would give President Trump new ammunition to criticize Mr. McCabe, who […]
3/1/2018
CRIME/DRUGS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [3-1-18] suggested using the death penalty on drug dealers to address the opioid epidemic, equating providing lethal drugs with murder. ‘We have pushers and drugs dealers, they are killing hundreds and hundreds of people,’ Trump said at a White House summit on opioid abuse. ‘If you […]
3/1/2018
2016 ELECTION/GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A top Republican fundraiser close to President Donald Trump was in negotiations to earn tens of millions of dollars if the U.S. Justice Department dropped its investigation into a multibillion-dollar graft scandal involving a Malaysian state investment fund, according to emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. In emails dated […]
2/28/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Three top Justice Department officials were spotted dining together at an upscale Washington restaurant on Wednesday [2-28-18] night, according to a source who saw them there. The source said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Solicitor General Noel Francisco ate at Central Michel Richard, which is almost across […]
2/28/2018
JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Feb. 28, 2018 09:34am […]
2/27/2018
IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SUPREME COURT: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a lower-court decision affording bail hearings to thousands of noncitizens held in federal lockups while they appeal deportation orders. Voting 5-3 along ideological lines, the justices found that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had stretched the reading of federal immigration law when it […]
2/27/2018
2016 ELECTION/FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday [2-27-18] that the Justice Department’s internal watchdog will investigate how the FBI and federal prosecutors obtained warrants from the nation’s secret spy court to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser. His statement came in response to a question at a press conference about whether […]
2/27/2018
GUNS/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday [2-27-18] that he believes bump fire stocks can be effectively banned through regulation, teasing that an announcement from the Justice Department would be coming soon… Bump fire stocks, commonly known as bump stocks, are devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at a more rapid rate. […]
2/26/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/LGBTQ/NEW YORK: “A federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled on Monday [2-26-18] that federal civil rights law bars employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation. The case, which stemmed from the 2010 dismissal of a Long Island sky-diving instructor, was a setback for the Trump Justice Department, whose lawyers found themselves in the unusual […]
2/26/2018
DREAMERS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Supreme Court on Monday [2-26-18] denied a Trump administration appeal that sought the swift cancellation of a program protecting undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. The court’s move means the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, will remain in place for the near […]
2/21/2018
JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/OBAMA ADMIN/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [2-21-18] renewed his public pressure on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, suggesting the Justice Department should be looking at the Obama administration as it probes possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia… Mr. Sessions, who advised Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign, has repeatedly […]
2/20/2018
2A/GUNS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/OBAMA ADMIN/TRUMP MEMORANDA: “Presidential Memorandum on the Application of the Definition of Machinegun to ‘Bump Fire’ Stocks and Other Similar Devices After the deadly mass murder in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 1, 2017, I asked my Administration to fully review how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulates bump fire stocks […]
2/18/2018
FBI/IRAN/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/OBAMA ADMIN: “Never gotten over the fact that Obama was able to send $1.7 Billion Dollars in CASH to Iran and nobody in Congress, the FBI or Justice called for an investigation!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Feb. 18, 2018 07:02am […]
2/15/2018
IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal appeals court on Thursday [2-15-18] ruled that President Donald Trump’s third attempt at a travel ban is likely unconstitutional, writing that it ‘continues to exhibit a primarily religious anti-Muslim objective.’ The US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld a lower court injunction that blocked the Trump […]
2/11/2018
DEMS/INTELLIGENCE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House signaled Sunday [2-11-18] that a classified Democratic memo it blocked last week could see the light of day soon, after changes are made to address concerns raised by Justice Department officials. The comments from a senior administration official came as Democrats said they were open to making changes […]
2/9/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, plans to step down after nine months on the job as the country’s top law enforcement agency has been under attack by President Trump, according to two people briefed on her decision. Ms. Brand’s profile had risen in part because she is […]
2/6/2018
BUDGET/DRUGS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “State and local law enforcement officials are fighting a Trump administration proposal to move oversight of a $275 million drug prevention program to the Justice Department, fearing that such a move would steer the country’s drug-fighting strategy toward federal legal crackdowns and away from years of holistic, community-based approaches. A draft budget plan […]
2/5/2018
GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Two Republican senators allege the author of a controversial dossier lied to federal agents, or the Justice Department knowingly or mistakenly permitted ‘materially false statements’ to appear in classified records, according a criminal referral from the lawmakers released on Monday [2-5-18]. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made […]
2/2/2018
DEMS/FBI/GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Top officials and investigators at the F.B.I. and Justice Department have ‘politicized the sacred investigative process,’ President Trump said on Friday [2-2-18], hours before the White House is expected to clear the way for Congress to release a controversial memo that is said to describe a bias among senior law enforcement […]
2/2/2018
CYBERWAR/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA: “A Russian programmer who had been arrested in Spain in a high-profile case that pitted the U.S. against Russia on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges of running a vast network of computers for criminal purposes. Pyotr Levashov, described by the U.S. Justice Department as one of the world’s most sophisticated hackers, is […]
2/2/2018
FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans – something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Feb. 2, 2018 06:33am […]
2/1/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The Justice Department has effectively shuttered an Obama-era office dedicated to making legal aid accessible to all citizens, according to two people familiar with the situation. The division, the Office for Access to Justice, began as an initiative in 2010 under former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to increase and improve legal […]
2/1/2018
CIA/FBI/GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Former CIA Director John Brennan is calling out Republicans for ‘reckless partisan behavior’ over their handling of a secret memo about the FBI’s surveillance practices. ‘I had many fights with Congressional Dems over the years on national security matters. But I never witnessed the type of reckless partisan behavior I am […]
1/31/2018
FBI/GOP/INTELLIGENCE/JOHN KELLY/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “FBI Director Christopher Wray sent a striking signal to the White House Wednesday [1-31-18], issuing a rare public warning that a controversial Republican memo about the FBI’s surveillance practices omits key information that could impact its veracity. The move sets up an ugly clash with the President who wants it […]
1/29/2018
FBI/GOP/HOUSE OF REPS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA: “Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, apparently disregarding Justice Department warnings that their actions would be ‘extraordinarily reckless,’ voted Monday [1-29-18] evening to release a contentious secret memorandum said to accuse the department and the F.B.I. of misusing their authority to obtain a secret surveillance order on a former Trump campaign […]
1/29/2018
2016 ELECTION/CARTER PAGE/FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Former Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page said Monday [1-29-18] that he wanted more information from the Justice Department before weighing in on a report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein approved an application to extend a secret surveillance warrant against him early last year. In text messages, Page said he’s […]
1/28/2018
2016 ELECTION/GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring, according to three people familiar with it. The renewal shows that the Justice Department under President Trump saw reason to […]
1/25/2018
FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The Justice Department’s internal watchdog has recovered an undisclosed number of missing text messages between an FBI agent and another bureau employee who have come under fire for privately criticizing President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign. Republicans and allies of Mr. Trump had raised concerns about the missing texts, which cover a […]
1/25/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/POLITICAL FIGURES: “The head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors said Thursday [1-25-18] that the Justice Department’s warning that sanctuary cities and states could be subject to federal subpoenas was a White House ‘stunt’ intended to turn a planned meeting between mayors and President Donald Trump into a ‘photo-op.’ Landrieu was among the mayors […]
1/24/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/SANCTUARY CITIES: “President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday [1-24-18] escalated its battle with ‘sanctuary cities’ that protect illegal immigrants from deportation, demanding documents on whether local law enforcement agencies are illegally withholding information from U.S. immigration authorities. The U.S. Justice Department said it was asking for the records from 23 jurisdictions, including America’s three […]
1/24/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/VENEZUELA: “Two U.S. senators called on the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday [1-24-18] to investigate allegations of drug trafficking by senior officials in the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as the country struggles with economic crisis. In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions seen by Reuters, Republican Senator Marco Rubio […]
1/23/2018
2016 ELECTION/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned for several hours last week by the special counsel’s office as part of the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the election and whether the president obstructed justice since taking office, according to a Justice Department spokeswoman. The meeting marked the first time that investigators […]
1/23/2018
ATTORNEY GENERAL/CHRIS WRAY/FBI/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “FBI Director Christopher Wray felt so much pressure from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to make staffing changes among the senior ranks at the FBI that he threatened to resign from his post, a source familiar with the conversation tells CNN. Sessions communicated to Wray, who was hand-picked by President Donald […]
1/22/2018
2016 ELECTION/ETHICS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A government-watchdog group filed complaints Monday with the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department asking the agencies to investigate a $130,000 payment arranged by President Donald Trump’s lawyer to a former adult-film star before the 2016 presidential election. Common Cause, based in Washington, D.C., said the payment, revealed in […]
1/22/2018
ATTORNEY GENERAL/FBI/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged Monday [1-22-18] evening to fully investigate how the FBI failed to preserve five months of text messages between two high-level officials involved in the investigations of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. ‘We will leave no stone unturned to confirm with certainty why these text messages are […]
1/19/2018
2016 ELECTION/INTELLIGENCE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Congress is probing the Obama administration’s decision to use research by an ex-British spy to justify, in part, surveillance of an associate of Donald Trump, as Republican scrutiny rises of law-enforcement actions during 2016 presidential campaign. In the final days of the campaign, the Justice Department used information from Christopher […]
1/18/2018
DEMS/IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SANCTUARY CITIES: “Senate Democrats are questioning the Trump administration’s latest salvo in its push for strict immigration enforcement: possible criminal charges for local politicians in so-called sanctuary cities. The Justice Department is exploring ‘what avenues might be available’ to criminally charge state and local officials who enact laws or guidelines limiting cooperation with federal […]
1/16/2018
DHS/IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TERRORISM: “New report from DOJ & DHS shows that nearly 3 in 4 individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges are foreign-born. We have submitted to Congress a list of resources and reforms… we need to keep America safe, including moving away from a random chain migration and lottery system, to one that is merit-based. https://t.co/7PtoSFK1n2” […]
1/16/2018
DREAMERS/IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/SUPREME COURT: “The Justice Department on Tuesday [1-16-18] announced plans to seek direct Supreme Court review of a judge’s ruling that blocked President Donald Trump from shuttering a program that gave work permits and other protections to some people who entered the U.S. illegally as children. The administration is also appealing the ruling to […]
11/11/2018
CRISIS/FEMA/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/PUERTO RICO: “Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Roselló has asked the Justice Department to investigate the island’s public electric utility after federal agents said they found large quantities of critical rebuilding materials stored in a warehouse owned by the public utility. On Saturday [1-6-18], employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army […]
1/11/2018
ATTORNEY GENERAL/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions is creating a dedicated team of prosecutors and investigators to focus on drug trafficking by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in response to a recent POLITICO article that highlighted some such cases were softpedaled during the Obama administration in order avoid derailing a nuclear deal with Tehran […]
1/10/2018
GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/POLITICAL FIGURES: “The decision by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein to make public 300 pages of testimony related to a controversial dossier drew a rebuke from the Judiciary Committee’s Republican chairman but was welcomed by other GOP colleagues. Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, was questioned in August 2017 by Judiciary Committee investigators about […]
1/9/2018
ATTORNEY GENERAL/CRIME/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The Justice Department has agreed to seek the federal death penalty in at least two murder cases, in what officials say is the first sign of a heightened effort under Attorney General Jeff Sessions to use capital punishment to further crack down on violent crime. In a decision made public Monday […]
1/9/2018
2016 ELECTION/FBI/GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Broadening their political counterattack in defense of the White House, President Donald Trump’s allies in Congress are placing new scrutiny on contacts between top Justice Department officials and reporters covering the Trump-Russia investigation. In recent weeks, GOP congressional investigators have publicly and privately questioned senior Justice Department and FBI leaders […]
1/5/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Friday [1-5-18] said he would resubmit more than 20 judicial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, including his picks for federal judge positions in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana—states the White House says ‘are suffering from judicial emergencies.’ The judge picks were among nearly 100 nominees that Congress returned […]
1/5/2018
JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/POLITICS: “The Trump administration finally crossed the line for some members of Congress this week, provoking bipartisan umbrage and accompanying pledges to hold top officials accountable. Many thought the day had been far too long in coming. Few thought the galvanizing issue would be weed. Both Republicans and Democrats reacted with dismay and […]
1/5/2018
GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Two Republican senators have asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into whether the author of a controversial research document on President Donald Trump lied to investigators. Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said they have seen evidence that former British spy Christopher Steele made false […]
1/4/2018
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/OBAMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration on Thursday [1-4-18] will free federal prosecutors to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws, effectively threatening to undermine the legalization movement that has spread to six states, most recently California. The Justice Department is expected to rescind an Obama-era policy of discouraging federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related […]
1/4/2018
2016 ELECTION/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House’s top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s associates had helped a Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election. Public pressure was building for Mr. Sessions, […]
1/4/2018
GOP/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA: “Republican Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan said Thursday [1-4-18] that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should step aside ‘now,’ citing the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign ties to Russian operatives and intelligence leaks to media as key concerns with his performance. In a joint opinion piece […]
1/3/2018
FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/PAUL RYAN: “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray made an unannounced visit to Speaker Paul Ryan’s office Wednesday [1-3-18] as the Justice Department grapples with an increasingly hostile faction of House Republicans demanding documents related to the bureau’s Russia probe. Rosenstein was spotted entering Ryan’s office, and a spokesman for […]
1/3/2018
IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “A Mexican journalist who sought refuge in the United States amid death threats almost a decade ago now faces deportation in a case drawing criticism from immigration and journalism advocates. The case is a high-profile example of the years it can take for asylum claims to wind through the country’s backlogged immigration court […]
1/2/2018
CENSUS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A request by the Justice Department to ask people about their citizenship status in the 2020 census is stirring a broad backlash from census experts and others who say the move could wreck chances for an accurate count of the population — and, by extension, a fair redistricting of the House […]
1/2/2018
HILLARY CLINTON/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Jan. 2, 2018 07:48am […]
12/21/2017
2A/GUNS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Justice Department officials have indicated they do not believe the department can regulate the sale of gun bump stocks without congressional action, underscoring concern that an ongoing administrative review into that question is little more than an effort to slow-roll a politically divisive issue. The Justice Department announced this month that […]
12/21/2017
CRIME/DHS/IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “About one in five inmates in federal prison are foreign-born, and more than 90 percent of those are in the United States illegally, according to a report released on Thursday [12-21-17] by the Trump administration, which has sought to highlight the dangers it says unauthorized immigrants pose to public safety. Officials […]
12/20/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday [12-20-17] called for a review of the federal judiciary’s procedures for protecting court employees from misconduct, two days after a prominent federal judge resigned under a cloud of sexual abuse allegations by former law clerks. James Duff, director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts, said […]
12/19/2017
ABORTION/HHS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Renewed Trump administration efforts to prevent undocumented teens in U.S. custody from obtaining abortions suffered setbacks this week, but the ongoing court battle shows no signs of subsiding. The Justice Department said Tuesday [12-19-17] that one teen in custody who is seeking an abortion was a 19-year-old adult, not a 17-year-old […]
12/19/2017
2016 ELECTION/INTELLIGENCE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA: “Members of Congress have not made life easy for the leaders of the Justice Department this month, and FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is next in line for some special attention on Tuesday [12-19-17]. McCabe is set to testify behind closed doors before the House Intelligence Committee as part of its […]
12/18/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Matthew Petersen, the judicial nominee who was widely ridiculed last week after a video went viral of him struggling to answer basic legal questions at his Senate confirmation hearing, withdrew from consideration on Monday. Petersen, a member of the Federal Election Commission, said in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump […]
12/15/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It was one of the more painful Senate hearings in recent memory. Matthew S. Petersen, a member of the Federal Election Commission, was one of five of President Trump’s judicial nominees being questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday [12-12-17] when Senator John N. Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, singled him […]
12/15/2017
2016 ELECTION/FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/MICHAEL FLYNN/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “On his way to Quantico, Va., to speak at the FBI’s National Academy, President Trump stopped to tell reporters, ‘It’s a shame what’s happened with the FBI,’ and ‘you have a lot of very angry people that are seeing it.’ Trump asserted that ‘we’re going to rebuild the FBI’ […]
12/12/2017
2016 ELECTION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA: “A career Justice Department lawyer who has specialized in organized-crime issues was recently transferred from the deputy attorney general’s office to another division because he failed to inform officials of a September 2016 meeting with the author of a controversial dossier on then-candidate Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said. Bruce […]
12/11/2017
CYBERWAR/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA: “A telecom software company has agreed to resolve a criminal investigation of its use of uncleared Russian nationals working in Russia on a U.S. defense project by implementing a security plan that American officials hope will serve as a new industry model. The Justice Department said Monday [12-11-17] it had agreed not to […]
12/8/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/PLANNED PARENTHOOD: “The Justice Department is looking into Planned Parenthood’s practices related to human fetal tissue, according to a letter obtained by CNN. The letter — from the Justice Department’s head of its Office of Legislative Affairs — does not mention Planned Parenthood by name but asks the Senate Judiciary Committee to turn over […]
12/8/2017
INTELLIGENCE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The top U.S. intelligence official has ordered tighter restrictions on how the names of Americans kept secret in intelligence reports can be revealed during presidential transitions, according to documents seen by Reuters. The move follows unsubstantiated charges by President Donald Trump and his allies that his predecessor’s administration spied on Trump and improperly […]
12/7/2017
CHRIS WRAY/FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Christopher A. Wray, the director of the F.B.I., defended his work force on Thursday [12-7-17] in a politically charged hearing on Capitol Hill, rebutting President Trump’s accusation that the bureau was in ‘tatters’ and fending off attacks from Republicans on personnel… Mr. Wray was pressed by Republicans on the political […]
12/7/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/MICHAEL FLYNN/NATIONAL SECURITY: “President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, will face a different judge to be sentenced than the one who took Flynn’s guilty plea to a felony false statement charge last week, court records show. Judge Emmet Sullivan was randomly assigned to take over the case after Judge Rudolph Contreras […]
12/6/2017
FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA: “Two U.S. senators wrote to the Justice Department’s inspector general on Wednesday [12-6-17] requesting more information about the FBI agent who was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team over private text messages he allegedly sent during the election that were critical of President Donald Trump. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron […]
12/5/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/MEDIA/RUSSIA: “The Russian government declared the broadcasters Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ‘foreign agents’ on Tuesday [12-5-17], in retaliation for a similar action against Russian state-run news outlets in the United States. The Kremlin-financed television station RT America and its affiliated news agency, Sputnik, complied last month with an order from […]
12/5/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA: “The federal government spent nearly $7 million investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election between May and September, the Justice Department announced Tuesday [12-5-17]. Special counsel Robert Mueller spent $3.2 million over that time. Another $3.5 million has separately been spent by law enforcement personnel working on the investigation but who do […]
12/4/2017
FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The Justice Department has agreed to allow congressional investigators to interview a key FBI employee believed to have served as the main contact, or ‘handler’ of, former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who compiled the so-called ‘dossier’ of allegations about President Donald Trump’s connections to Russia, according to a department spokesperson. The interview, […]
12/2/2017
HILLARY CLINTON/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Many people in our Country are asking what the ‘Justice’ Department is going to do about the fact that totally Crooked Hillary, AFTER receiving a subpoena from the United States Congress, deleted and ‘acid washed’ 33,000 Emails? No justice!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Dec. 2, 2017 09:13pm […]
11/29/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SEC/SUPREME COURT: “The Trump administration on Wednesday [11-29-17] abandoned its defense of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s in-house judicial system, siding with opponents who say the hiring process for the SEC’s judges is unconstitutional. In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyers for the Justice Department wrote they now consider the SEC’s […]
11/29/2017
FBI/HOUSE OF REPS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The House of Representatives seeks contempt citations(?) against the JusticeDepartment and the FBI for withholding key documents and an FBI witness which could shed light on surveillance of associates of Donald Trump. Big stuff. Deep State. Give this information NOW! @FoxNews” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Nov. 29, 2017 08:03pm […]
11/22/2017
FCC/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/NET NEUTRALITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Over just two days this week, the Trump administration has both sued AT&T Inc. to block its planned takeover of Time Warner Inc. and proposed allowing internet-service providers—like AT&T—to form closer alliances with content companies, like Time Warner. The two government moves seem to go in opposite directions, on the […]
11/21/2017
CRIME/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/POLICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Six years ago, a police officer in this city in eastern Washington was convicted of beating a disabled man to death and trying to cover it up. After other alarming episodes involving Spokane officers came to light, the city asked federal officials to suggest changes to the police department as part […]
11/21/2017
EDUCATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the use of race in Harvard University’s admissions practices and has accused the university of failing to cooperate with the probe, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The Justice Department is investigating complaints that formed the basis of a federal civil lawsuit […]
11/21/2017
IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/SUPREME COURT/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Monday [11-20-17] to fully reinstate its travel restrictions on residents of six Muslim-majority countries, the latest move in a legal battle over entry to the U.S. that has raged since the Trump administration’s first days… U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, the […]
11/20/2017
BUSINESS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “The Justice Department sued to block AT&T Inc. from taking over Time Warner Inc. on Monday [11-20-17], a sweeping challenge to a deal it says would give one company too much control in a rapidly evolving media landscape. AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said the suit ‘defies logic’ and that the company would […]
11/17/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “At the Department of Justice, there have been 31 sexual harassment complaints through the third quarter of 2017, a number in line with recent years. At the CIA, there were six sexual harassment complaints from 2012 to 2016, according to its federal reports. But there are no comparable records for the White House, […]
11/14/2017
GOP/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The American Bar Association has been a key gatekeeper for the federal courts since it began evaluating judicial nominees in the 1940s, but it is losing influence among Republicans in the U.S. Senate who view it as a liberal group. Tensions between Senate Republicans and the association, the largest organization of […]
11/14/2017
JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday [11-14-17] pressed Attorney General Jeff Sessions on his and his department’s handling of race, including the lack of minorities in key Justice Department positions Under questioning from CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond at the House judiciary committee hearing, Sessions acknowledged he lacks a single black […]
11/14/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/NOMINATIONS/TRANSPORTATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A former government official criticized for being the principal author of the legal justifications for ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ was narrowly confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday as the top lawyer for the U.S. Department of Transportation in the Trump administration. Steven Bradbury, a Washington lawyer at Dechert LLP who was a […]
11/14/2017
CONFLICT OF INTEREST/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, during questioning at a congressional hearing Tuesday [11-14-17], sidestepped questions about whether President Trump’s vitriol toward CNN was factoring into the Department of Justice’s review of a mammoth media merger. AT&T is trying to buy Time Warner Inc. — which owns CNN, HBO, […]
11/13/2017
HILLARY CLINTON/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Justice Department said Monday [11-13-17] that prosecutors were looking into whether a special counsel should be appointed to investigate political rivals President Trump has singled out for scrutiny, including Hillary Clinton. The department, in a letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee, said the prosecutors would examine allegations that […]
11/13/2017
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “One of President Trump’s most controversial judicial nominees did not disclose on publicly available congressional documents that he is married to a senior lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office. The nominee, Brett J. Talley, is awaiting a Senate confirmation vote that could come as early as Monday [11-13-17] […]
11/9/2017
IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “New York and 15 other states can sue President Donald Trump to prevent him from rescinding legal protection for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled Thursday [11-9-17]. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis amounted […]
11/9/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA: “The Russian state-funded foreign television network RT said Thursday that it would comply with a U.S. Department of Justice request that the channel register as a foreign agent, but announced its intention to fight the designation in court. RT editor in chief Margarita Simonyan said in an article posted on the network’s […]
11/9/2017
DRUGS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Department of Justice plans to classify illicit versions of fentanyl as Class 1 drugs in an emergency effort to stop the creation of new synthetic opioids and make prosecution easier. DOJ and Drug Enforcement Administration officials announced Thursday that they intend to classify substances structurally related to fentanyl in ‘schedule […]
11/9/2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT: “The Justice Department is seeking to reach a plea deal in its criminal investigation of the former son-in-law of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s one-time campaign chairman, according to people familiar with the matter. The investigation into Jeffrey Yohai—who hasn’t been charged with any crime—by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. […]