Tag Archives: DOJ

The Washington Post reports: Former attorney general William P. Barr is President Trump’s leading candidate to be nominated to lead the Justice Department — a choice that could be made in coming days as the agency presses forward with a probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to multiple people familiar with the deliberations. Barr, 68, a well-respected …

The Alliance Defending Freedom, arguably the most successful and most viciously anti-LGBT Christian hate group, now has one of their own speaking for the DOJ. The Daily Beast reports: The Justice Department officially has a new top spokesperson: Kerri Kupec has been named director of its Office of Public Affairs, The Daily Beast has learned. Sarah Isgur Flores, the previous …

The New York Times reports: As Federal Trade Commission lawyers investigated a Miami company accused of defrauding thousands of customers, they were stunned to learn last year about a new job for a figure in their inquiry, Matthew G. Whitaker: He had been named chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “You’re not going to believe this… Matt Whitaker …

The Washington Post reports: Months after joining the advisory board of a Miami-based patent company in 2014, Matthew G. Whitaker began fielding angry complaints from customers that they were being defrauded, including from a client who showed up at his Iowa office to appeal to him personally for help, records show. Yet Whitaker, now the acting attorney general, remained an …

Boston’s NPR affiliate reports: Asked about news reports that President Donald Trump wanted the Justice Department to investigate him, Comey responded that he never disclosed classified information. “I am a little bit numb to the president’s threats and tweets because there is nothing there,” Comey said. “Then I stop myself, because it’s wrong for me or anybody else to become …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration on Friday once again asked the Supreme Court to bypass the usual legal process to take on another controversial issue — President Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from military service. Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco asked the justices to consolidate the challenges to the ban — which so far have been successful …

Open Secrets reports: A single six-figure donor accounted for 100 percent of funding raised by a nonprofit run by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker before he became Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff last year, new tax documents obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics reveal. President Trump tapped Whitaker to become acting Attorney General earlier in November after Jeff Sessions …

The Washington Post reports: In the three years after he arrived in Washington in 2014, Matthew G. Whitaker received more than $1.2 million as the leader of a charity that reported having no other employees, some of the best pay of his career. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust described itself as a new watchdog nonprofit dedicated to exposing …

Politico reports: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent a letter Tuesday requesting that the Justice Department inspector general investigate communications between Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and the White House. In his letter, Schumer cited news reports of Whitaker’s close relationship with President Donald Trump during his previous role as chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. …

The Daily Beast reports: A group of Senate Democrats is suing to block Matt Whitaker from serving as acting attorney general on grounds that his placement in the post was unconstitutional. The suit, which is being filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is …

The Hill reports: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and other top Republicans are calling on President Trump to name Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) as the next attorney general. “Look, it’s the president’s choice but one thing I know is John Ratcliffe probably has the best abilities to do the job and most knowledge to do the job,” McCarthy told …

Politico reports: Senate Republicans are urging President Donald Trump to quickly nominate a permanent attorney general, hoping a new top law enforcement officer will blunt bipartisan concern over the future of special counsel Robert Mueller and boost the GOP ahead of tough government funding talks. “If we had some confidence that there is somebody nominated that would be confirmed in …

The Washington Post reports: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been charged under seal, prosecutors inadvertently revealed in a recently unsealed court filing — a development that could significantly advance the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and have major implications for those who publish government secrets. The disclosure came in a filing in a case unrelated to Assange. …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Justice Department is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and is increasingly optimistic it will be able to get him into a U.S. courtroom, according to people in Washington familiar with the matter. Over the past year, U.S. prosecutors have discussed several types of charges they could potentially bring against Mr. Assange, the …

Mother Jones reports: In November 2014, a Miami Beach-based firm, World Patent Marketing, announced the “marketing launch” of a “MASCULINE TOILET,” which boasted a specially designed bowl to help “well-endowed men” avoid unwanted contact with porcelain or water. “The average male genitalia is between 5″ and 6″,” the firm’s press release said. “However, this invention is designed for those of …

The Washington Post reports: Whitaker’s connection to World Patent Marketing came as a surprise to both senior Justice Department and White House officials, several officials said. In their investigation, FTC staff had sought to learn more about the role played by the company’s advisory board members, including Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney whose role was prominently highlighted by the company …

MarketWatch reports: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation of a Florida company accused of scamming millions from customers during the period that Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. attorney general, served as a paid advisory-board member, according to an alleged victim who was contacted by the FBI and other people familiar with the matter. The investigation is …

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump’s new attorney general once said that judges should be Christian and proposed blocking non-religious people from judicial appointments. Matthew Whitaker, who was made acting attorney general on Wednesday after Trump fired Jeff Sessions, said judges needed a “biblical view of justice” and questioned the judgment of secular lawyers. Whitaker made the remarks at a conservative …

The Washington Post reports: Acting attorney general Matt Whitaker has no intention of recusing himself from overseeing the special-counsel probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to people close to him who added they do not believe he would approve any subpoena of President Trump as part of that investigation. Since stepping into his new role Wednesday, Whitaker …

The Daily Beast reports: Our new acting attorney general was listed on the advisory board of a patent marketing company that federal authorities shut down as a fraudulent scheme that bilked aspiring inventors of millions of dollars and intimated that those who publicly complained might have to deal with a “security team” of Israeli ex-special forces operators schooled in Krav …