All posts tagged: DOJs

Trump administration dropping DOJ’s .8B ‘lawfare’ fund

Trump administration dropping DOJ’s $1.8B ‘lawfare’ fund

The Trump administration plans to drop the Department of Justice’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” in the face of legal and political pushback to it, reports said Monday. The fund was created as part of a settlement of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. It is intended to compensate people who were purportedly victims of prosecutorial overreach by the DOJ under the Biden administration. In addition to the DOJ creating the fund, the settlement included an agreement that protected Trump and his family members from any enforcement actions, including audits, related to their tax filings made before the deal was announced. Reports that the fund was being put on ice came after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., met with Trump at the White House about the fund. “I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Monday. US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of …

Read: DOJ’s indictment of Raúl Castro

Read: DOJ’s indictment of Raúl Castro

The Justice Department indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder charges Wednesday, a move that coincides with Cuba’s Independence Day and a threat from President Trump that he could invade the island. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche joined prosecutors in South Florida to announce the indictment “in conjunction with a ceremony to honor the victims of the… Source link

News organizations sue to unseal filings in DOJ’s Fulton County election investigation

News organizations sue to unseal filings in DOJ’s Fulton County election investigation

A group of news organizations, including NBC News, has filed a motion to unseal filings and subpoenas in the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. In January, the FBI seized ballots and other materials from the 2020 election from an elections hub in Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold in the key battleground state that President Donald Trump lost in 2020. Last month, the DOJ also sought to compel the county to hand over the names, home addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of workers and volunteers who served during that election. County officials have so far refused, calling it an effort to “target, harass, and punish the President’s perceived political opponents” in a filing to quash the subpoena. They also note that the statute of limitations for any election crimes in 2020 has run out. Fulton County’s response justifies unsealing the filings, the news organizations argued. “The grand jury witness — Fulton County …

Tracking the DOJ’s effort to get U.S. voter registration data

Tracking the DOJ’s effort to get U.S. voter registration data

The Justice Department is asking states to agree to what they call a “confidential memorandum of understanding,” which would require states to include voter names, dates of birth, residential addresses, state driver’s licenses and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers. The DOJ says that after the states hand over the data, they’ll alert the officials to any “voter list maintenance issues, insufficiencies, inadequacies, deficiencies, anomalies, or concerns, the Justice Department found when testing, assessing and analyzing” the state’s voter registration lists. Notably, six Republican-leaning states have refused to turn over their data: Idaho, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia. And not every state that has handed over their data has agreed to sign the agreements; Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota and Tennessee did not. Across the country, seven federal judges in seven states have dismissed the DOJ’s litigation, with one judge in Rhode Island calling it a “fishing expedition.” The DOJ has appealed three of those rulings. The rest of the lawsuits are ongoing in courtrooms from coast to coast. Here’s where the …

Congressional watchdog will probe DOJ’s handling of docs

Congressional watchdog will probe DOJ’s handling of docs

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore,) speaks during a press conference addressing a new policy that demands recipients of foreign military aid to follow international humanitarian law at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2024. Nathan Howard | Reuters Congress’ independent watchdog plans to open an investigation into the Department of Justice’s handling of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Merkley announced the opening of the probe on Tuesday, a little over a month after he and Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., requested the Government Accountability Office do so. “”By illegally disregarding the law, the Trump Administration is cruelly denying ‘equal justice under the law’ to all of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims,” Merkley said in a statement. “This independent investigation is an important step in holding this Administration accountable for siding with the rich and powerful to help cover up the abuse of our most vulnerable.” Merkley is the senator who introduced the Senate version of legislation that last …

“No more lies”: House subpoenas Bondi over DOJ’s handling of Epstein Files

“No more lies”: House subpoenas Bondi over DOJ’s handling of Epstein Files

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday, calling on her to testify before Congress about the Department of Justice‘s handling of the case files of Jeffrey Epstein. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter requesting Bondi’s testimony on the Epstein files, as well as the DOJ’s handling of its case against Epstein prior to his death in August 2019. The committee had voted to subpoena Bondi on March 4. The letter ordered Bondi to appear on April 14. “As Attorney General, you are directly responsible for overseeing the Department’s collection, review, and determinations regarding the release of files pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and the Committee therefore believes that you possess valuable insight into these efforts. The Committee may use the results of this investigation to inform legislative solutions to improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking and reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations,” Comer wrote. The committee’s top Democrat praised the subpoena in a statement. Rep. Robert Garcia of California said that …

Ro Khanna says DOJ’s release is ‘not good enough’

Ro Khanna says DOJ’s release is ‘not good enough’

Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, during a news conference outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Graeme Sloan | Bloomberg | Getty Images Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, said the Department of Justice’s latest release of records related to its investigation of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “is not good enough.” “If we don’t get the remaining files… then Thomas Massie and I are prepared to move on impeachment or contempt,” Khanna said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. In an interview on Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department has released more than 3 million documents related to its investigation into Epstein. “This review is over,” Blanche said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We have nothing to hide, we never did.” Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., have previously blasted the DOJ for failing to meet a December deadline to release all of the Epstein case files. In a statement on Friday, …

Minnesota rebuffs DOJ’s data demands after Pretti shooting : NPR

Minnesota rebuffs DOJ’s data demands after Pretti shooting : NPR

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon speaks to the media about early voting on Sept. 19, 2024. Adam Bettcher/AP hide caption toggle caption Adam Bettcher/AP Minnesota officials are rebuffing a series of demands from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, as the state continues its clash with the Trump administration over the surge of federal immigration enforcement in the North Star state. In a letter to Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Bondi wrote: “You and your office must restore the rule of law, support ICE officers, and bring an end to the chaos in Minnesota.” The letter was dated Saturday, the same day Alex Pretti, a nurse and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by immigration officers — the second fatal shooting by federal agents this month. Bondi urged Walz to embrace what she called “common sense solutions,” including repealing what the Trump administration terms “sanctuary policies” and cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Minnesota state officials say the Trump administration is making false claims about its cooperation with ICE. Walz, who’s called on the Trump …

The DOJ’s effort to get voter data from California is blocked : NPR

The DOJ’s effort to get voter data from California is blocked : NPR

A person enters a polling station to vote on Nov. 4, 2025, at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, Calif. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mario Tama/Getty Images The Trump administration on Thursday was dealt its first legal setback in its unprecedented effort to consolidate voter data traditionally held by states. Federal district Judge David O. Carter dismissed a lawsuit in California that sought to give the Justice Department access to that state’s unredacted voter file, which includes sensitive data like Social Security numbers and driver’s license data. A district judge in Oregon also said in court Wednesday that he was tentatively planning to do the same there. California and Oregon are two of 23 states, along with Washington, D.C., that have been sued by the Department of Justice for rebuffing requests for voter data. All states are led by Democrats, or were lost by President Trump in the 2020 election. The DOJ has argued that it needs unfettered access to the state voter lists to determine whether states are maintaining their voter …