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The Justice Department on Tuesday sued six more states in its ongoing campaign to obtain detailed voter data and other election information. The department announced it was suing Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington over their failure to produce statewide voter registration lists. It has portrayed the litigation as part of an effort to ensure the security of elections, but Democratic officials have raised concerns over how the data will be used and whether the department will follow privacy laws in protecting it. Tuesday's actions bring to at least 14 the number of states the Justice Department has sued in its quest for the voter information. Our federal elections laws ensure every American citizen may vote freely and fairly, said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the department's Civil Rights Division. States that continue to defy federal voting laws interfere with our mission of ensuring that Americans have accurate voter lists as they g
The Justice Department renewed its request Monday to unseal Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking grand jury materials, saying Congress made clear in approving the release of investigative materials related to the prosecution of the late financier that documents such as the court records should be released. US Attorney Jay Clayton signed the submission in Manhattan federal court asking that the judge issue an expedited ruling allowing the materials to be released now that President Donald Trump signed the action requiring the release of documents related to Epstein within 30 days. The Justice Department said the Congressional action overrode existing law in a way that permits the unsealing of the grand jury records. Judge Richard Berman previously denied a Trump administration request to make the Epstein grand jury transcripts public. Berman, who presided over Epstein's 2019 case, ruled in August that a "significant and compelling reason" to deny the request and keep the transcripts seal
The US Justice Department on Monday urged a federal judge to reject James Comey's claim that his prosecution amounts to political retribution, arguing the former FBI director failed to show that he's being targeted as punishment for his criticism of President Donald Trump. Prosecutors defended Trump's September social media post demanding that action be taken in the Comey investigation, contending it reflects legitimate prosecutorial motive and is no basis to dismiss the indictment accusing Comey of lying to Congress in 2020. The filing underscores how Trump's comments have put the Justice Department in a difficult position as Comey and other defendants seize on the president's remarks in efforts to have their cases dismissed ahead of trial. Comey's lawyers told the judge last month that the charges must be thrown out because they were brought out of personal spite at the direction of the president. A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James, another Trump foe who's been
The Supreme Court said on Monday it will consider expanding President Donald Trump's power to shape independent agencies by overturning a nearly century-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members. In a 6-3 decision, the high court also allowed the Republican president to carry out the firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, while the case plays out. It's the latest high-profile firing the court has allowed in recent months, signaling the conservative majority is poised to overturn or narrow a 1935 Supreme Court decision that found commissioners can only be removed for misconduct or neglect of duty. Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented from the decision allowing Slaughter's firing. It comes after similar decisions affecting three other independent agencies. Congress, as everyone agrees, prohibited each of those presidential removals, Kagan wrote. Yet the majority, stay order by
Eight months into his second term, President Donald Trump's long-standing pledge to take on those he perceives as his political enemies has prompted debates over free speech, media censorship and political prosecutions. From late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel's suspension to Pentagon restrictions on reporters and an apparent public appeal to Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue legal cases against his adversaries, Trump has escalated moves to consolidate power in his second administration and root out those who have spoken out against him. In a post on social media this weekend addressed to Bondi, Trump said nothing is being done on investigations into some of his foes. We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility, he said. Noting that he was impeached and criminally charged, JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! Criticising investigations into Trump's dealings under Democratic President Joe Biden's Justice Department, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday that it is
The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha in the United States has welcomed the Justice Department decision to close an investigation against it over alleged claims of exploitation of workers. In 2021, a group of Indian workers had filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of New Jersey alleging violations of human trafficking and wage law against the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). The workers alleged that they were confined and forced to work for about USD 1 on constructing the massive Swaminarayan temple in New Jersey. The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha in the United States welcomes the decision by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey to close their investigation of BAPS and the creation of BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, BAPS North America said in a statement. A report in The New York Times had said that the complaint had named six men who had said they were among more than 200 Indian nationals w
The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday publicly posted the files it has received from the Justice Department on the sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, responding to mounting pressure in Congress to force more disclosure in the case. Still, the files mostly contain information that was already publicly known or available. The folders contained hundreds of image files of years-old court filings related to Epstein and Maxwell. They also included video files appearing to be body cam footage from police searches as well as recordings and summaries of law enforcement interviews with victims detailing the abuse they said they suffered. The committee's release of the files showed how lawmakers are eager to act as they return to Washington after a monthlong break. They quickly revived a political clash that has flummoxed House Republican leadership and roiled President Donald Trump's administration. House Republican Speaker Mike
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's request to unseal grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking case, joining two other judges who declined to release similar records from investigations into the late financier's sexual abuse of young women and girls. Judge Richard Berman, who presided over the 2019 case, ruled a week after another Manhattan federal judge turned down the government's request to release transcripts from the grand jury that indicted Epstein's longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell. Barring reversal on appeal, Berman's decision appears to foreclose the possibility of federal courts releasing Epstein-related grand jury testimony. A federal judge in Florida declined to release grand jury documents from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007, though some material from a state case against Epstein was made public last year. The rulings were a resounding repudiation of the Justice Department's effort to unlock the records, a
A coalition of attorneys general from 20 states and Washington, DC, is asking a federal judge to stop the US Department of Justice from withholding federal funds earmarked for crime victims if states don't cooperate with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts. The lawsuit filed Monday in Rhode Island federal court seeks to block the Justice Department from enforcing conditions that would cut funding to a state or subgrantee if it refuses to honour civil immigration enforcement requests, denies US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers access to facilities or fails to provide advance notice of release dates of individuals possibly wanted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of their immigration status. The lawsuit asks that the conditions be thrown out, arguing that the administration and the agency are overstepping their constitutional and administrative authority. The lawsuit also argues that the requirements are not permitted or outlined in t
The Justice Department on Monday filed a misconduct complaint against the federal judge who has clashed with President Donald Trump 's administration over deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Escalating the administration's conflict with U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that she directed the filing of the complaint against Boasberg for making improper public comments about President Trump and his administration. The complaint stems from remarks Boasberg allegedly made in March to Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges saying the administration would trigger a constitutional crisis by disregarding federal court rulings, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Associated Press. The comments have undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, the complaint says, adding that the administration has always complied with all court orders. Boasberg is among several judges who have ...
A former Ohio police officer convicted of murder in the shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killed, was given a mandatory sentence Monday of 15 years to life. Former Columbus officer Adam Coy shot Hill four times in a garage in December 2020, as the country reckoned with a series of police killings of Black men, women and children. He told jurors that he feared for his life because he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver. Coy, who is being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma, told the court Monday he plans to appeal the verdict. I feel my actions were justified, Coy said. I reacted the same way I had in hundreds of training scenarios. I drew and fired my weapon to stop a threat, protect myself and my partner." Prosecutors said Hill followed police commands and was never a threat to Coy. In victim impact statements Monday, Hill's sisters and ex-wife described the 47-year-old as a gentle man who had never met a stranger. His grandchild
Despite the sun bearing down on him and the sweat beading across his face, President Donald Trump still lingered with reporters lined up outside the White House on Friday. He was leaving on a trip to Scotland, where he would visit his golf courses, and he wanted to talk about how his administration just finished the best six months ever. But over and over, the journalists kept asking Trump about the Jeffrey Epstein case and whether he would pardon the disgraced financier's imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. People should really focus on how well the country is doing, Trump insisted. He shut down another question by saying, I don't want to talk about that. It was another example of how the Epstein saga and his administration's disjointed approach to it has shadowed Trump when he's otherwise at the height of his influence. He's enacted a vast legislative agenda, reached trade deals with key countries and tightened his grip across the federal government. Yet he's struggled t
Michael Gordon prosecuted some of the most notorious members of the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. His latest case to make is proving that the Justice Department fired him because he was good at his job. Gordon sued the federal government Thursday, claiming his June 27 termination was politically motivated retribution for his work on prosecuting Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. He and two other former Justice Department officials are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the department, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Executive Office of the President. Dozens of Justice Department attorneys have been fired, demoted or forced out or have quit since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Gordon and the other plaintiffs Patricia Hartman and Joseph Tirrell appear to be the first of them to file a lawsuit. Hartman was a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia. Tirrell led the department'