Tag Archives: DOJ

Just in from the Justice Department: A former leader of the white supremacist group Atomwaffen Division pleaded guilty today to charges related to his role in a conspiracy that conducted multiple swatting events targeting journalists, a Virginia university, a historic Virginia church, and a former cabinet official. According to court documents, John Cameron Denton, 26, of Montgomery, Texas, is a …

CNN reports: The Justice Department supports longtime Trump friend Roger Stone going to prison on Tuesday, according to a new court filing. Stone has asked a federal appeals court for emergency help to delay his prison term until September, citing coronavirus. But the Justice Department, which has been criticized for going easy on Stone, said the report date of July …

The New York Daily News reports: A Florida man who had sent a letter to President Trump peddling toxic bleach as a fake coronavirus cure has been arrested by the commander-in-chief’s own Justice Department, an ironic turn of events that comes two months after the nation’s leader suggested the ludicrous method as a possible COVID-19 treatment. Mark Grenon, the self-described …

CNN reports: The Justice Department is considering replacing the US attorney in Brooklyn with a senior department official close to Attorney General William Barr, officials briefed on the matter said. On Thursday, Richard Donoghue, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, told his staff he’d be stepping down to move to Washington as the Justice Department’s principal …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court will not take up a challenge to new federal death penalty protocols proposed by the Justice Department, which wants to resume executions as early as July for the first time since 2003. The court, without comment, declined Monday to take up the lawsuit filed by four death row inmates. As is customary, it …

Via press release from the Justice Department: *COVID-19 ALERT: Fraudulent Facemask Flyers* The Department of Justice has been made aware of postings or flyers on the internet regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the use of face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which include the Department of Justice’s seal. These postings were not issued by …

Bloomberg News reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee blocked an effort by Chairman Lindsey Graham to give the attorney general the power to veto investigations of Justice Department lawyers by the inspector general. The committee instead backed — over the objections of Graham and Attorney General William Barr — a bipartisan bill by Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah that would …

Bloomberg News reports: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange conspired with hackers affiliated with the “Anonymous” and “LulzSec” groups, which have been linked to numerous cyber attacks around the world, according to new indictment by the U.S. Justice Department. Assange, who’s detained in the U.K. on a U.S. extradition request, gave the leader of LulzSec a list of targets to hack in …

The Associated Press reports: A quarantine imposed on travelers arriving to Hawaii discriminates against out-of-state residents, the U.S. Department of Justice said in support of a lawsuit challenging the mandate meant to protect the islands against the spread of the coronavirus. “This case raises issues of national public importance regarding the interplay between the government’s compelling interest in protecting the …

The Daily Beast reports: Attorney General William Barr has agreed to attend a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on July 28, Department of Justice spokesperson Kerri Kupec said Wednesday. The announcement comes as the Judiciary Committee convened for another Department of Justice oversight hearing and just days after the complicated firing of Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to criminally charge John Bolton with disclosing classified information in his upcoming White House memoir, and the Justice Department is expected in coming days to ramp up its legal campaign to block publication of a book that is being billed as a scathing rebuke of President Trump, according to people …

CNET reports: The Justice Department will propose rolling back the legal protections online platforms have had since the ’90s, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, to make sites more vigilant about policing content. It follows President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting social media companies. The proposal could be announced on Wednesday, reported the Journal, citing a Trump administration official. …

Courthouse News reports: After nearly four years of arguing for the Trump administration in high-stakes Supreme Court battles, Solicitor General Noel Francisco plans to leave the Justice Department, according to multiple reports Thursday morning. A former clerk for Justice Anthony Scalia, Francisco previously worked in the George W. Bush White House and at the Justice Department. He also spent time …

The Associated Press reports: A former federal judge appointed to review the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn has found that the government’s request should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power.” Former U.S. District Judge John Gleeson said in a filing Wednesday that the …

Politico reports: The Justice Department is pressing forward with its criminal case against a former business partner of Michael Flynn, despite Attorney General William Barr’s controversial decision to seek to abandon the prosecution of the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump. Prosecutors seeking to revive the convictions of Flynn’s former colleague, Bijan Rafiekian, filed a brief with a …

The New York Post reports: A sexually frustrated Virginia man blew off a hand while trying to make homemade explosives — ones he planned to use on a revenge attack on “hot cheerleaders,” according to federal prosecutors. Cole Carini, 23, went to a health clinic in Richlands last Wednesday suffering from an amputated hand, amputated fingers on the opposite hand, …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: In the latest example of the Trump administration seeking to enable legal discrimination against LGBTQ people, the Justice Department is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to allow religious-affiliated adoption agencies to refuse child placement into LGBTQ homes. In a 35-page brief, U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco and other Justice Department attorneys maintain …

Buzzfeed News reports: The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News. Floyd’s death “has spawned widespread protests across the nation, which, in some instances, have included violence and looting,” the …

Reuters reports: The Democrat who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary committee said on Tuesday he will introduce legislation this week to cut $50 million in funding from Attorney General William Barr’s personal office. New York Representative Jerrold Nadler said he would move to reduce funding for Barr’s personal office as a response to what he called “continued defiance …

Via press release from the Justice Department: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office are conducting a robust criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd. The Department of Justice has made the investigation a top priority and has …