Attorney General

DOJ Investigates Ex-CIA General Counsel Rizzo for Drone Disclosures in Newsweek

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating former CIA acting general counsel John Rizzo because of disclosures he made about the agency’s drone program to Newsweek magazine. Rizzo, who retired from the CIA in 2009, gave an on-the-record interview to Newsweek for a February story about how the CIA picks human…

Nov 11, 2011 1:20 PM CST

Ex-US Attorney Admits Leaking Memo Intended to Make ‘Fast and Furious’ Whistle-Blower Look Bad

A former U.S. Attorney for Arizona who resigned in August after a botched federal probe of gun-running for Mexican drug cartels came to light has admitted leaking a memo intended to cast aspersions on a whistle-blower who went to Congress about Operation Fast and Furious. In the probe, agents of…

Nov 9, 2011 9:12 PM CST

DOJ Muffin Myth Revealed: $16 Was Cost of Entire Continental Breakfast; Revised Report Is Issued

An audit report issued last month got a lot of press when it accused the U.S. Justice Department of spending $16 per muffin at a legal training conference in 2009. Never mind. The $16 was the cost of an entire continental breakfast that included fruit, coffee, juice and other pastries,…

Oct 31, 2011 11:31 AM CDT

DOJ Suggests Rule Change to Authorize Release of Historic Grand Jury Information

The U.S. Justice Department is backing a change in federal rules to authorize disclosure of older grand jury testimony. Attorney General Eric Holder writes in a letter that courts should be allowed to disclose archival grand jury materials of great historical significance, the New York Times reports. Archived copies of…

Oct 21, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Speedy Filings Could Mean Speedy Cert Decision on Health Care Law

Speedy court filings could put challenges to the Obama’s administration’s health care law on the Supreme Court’s docket sooner rather than later. The U.S. Justice Department and 26 states challenging the law have filed briefs ahead of schedule, report USA Today and SCOTUSblog. “It now seems inevitable that the justices…

Oct 19, 2011 4:46 PM CDT

Alberto Gonzales Has a Second Nashville Job, This One at a Law Firm

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has two employment gigs in Nashville. Earlier this week came the announcement that Gonzales will become a law professor at Belmont University, a new law school in Nashville. Now Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis has announced that Gonzales is joining the Nashville law firm in…

Oct 6, 2011 3:10 PM CDT

Oops. Yemen Man Cited in Alabama Senators’ Push to Enforce New Immigration Law Is a Legal Resident

A misdemeanor charge against an alleged undocumented immigrant in Etowah County, Ala., last week was billed as the first in the state under a controversial new law that allows police to check the immigration status of an arrestee. Taken into custody Friday for allegedly obstructing a government operation during a…

Oct 5, 2011 7:24 PM CDT

Did Attorney General Fudge Fast and Furious Testimony? DOJ Offers Explanation

Emails show senior Justice Department officials discussed the Fast and Furious gun-tracking investigation and a separate gun probe last year, raising questions about timing testimony by Attorney General Eric Holder. The emails show Holder was generally told about the botched gun-running probe Fast and Furious in July, October and November…

Oct 4, 2011 12:11 PM CDT

Ex-AG Alberto Gonzales to Teach as Chaired Professor at New Law School

Initially underemployed after his controversial service as the nation’s top law enforcement official, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales plans to accept a chaired professorship at a new law school. Beginning early next year, he will serve as the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law at Belmont University, reports the…

Oct 3, 2011 11:23 PM CDT

Hold the $10 Brownies and $16 Muffins, Report on Hefty DOJ Conference Expenses Suggests

It isn’t just law firms that know how to spend lavishly on food, an audit report (PDF) released yesterday by the acting Department of Justice inspector general makes clear. The department paid nearly $10 per brownie and $16 per muffin at a 2009 legal training conference in Washington, D.C., which…

Sep 20, 2011 11:18 PM CDT

US Attorney’s Office Will Check New York’s Most Popular Restaurants for ADA Compliance

The office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara will be reviewing more than 50 New York restaurants, but the critique won’t be culinary in nature. Bharara’s office will review the restaurants voted most popular in the 2011 Zagat guide for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, report Bloomberg News…

Sep 20, 2011 3:51 PM CDT

Former Justice Department Lawyer Who Advocates for Elderly Wins Genius Grant

Marie-Therese Connolly was prosecuting civil fraud cases for the U.S. Justice Department in the late 1990s when the Clinton administration reacted to reports of nursing home abuses by creating the Elder Justice and Nursing Home Initiative. Connolly headed the DOJ program, and continued her focus on elder abuse after she…

Sep 20, 2011 11:27 AM CDT

Local Police Departments Face Increasing Justice Department Scrutiny for Civil Rights Records

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is increasing its probes of civil rights violations by local police and sheriff’s departments. Seventeen local police departments are facing scrutiny, the highest number in the 54-year history of the Civil Rights Division, the Washington Post reports. Among the departments under investigation: Portland, Ore.,…

Sep 19, 2011 3:25 PM CDT

‘Notoriously Cranky’ Lawyers Stay Content in Jobs at DOJ, But Not at SEC

The U.S. Justice Department ranks only 16th in a new report on the satisfaction levels of younger government workers. But there is some good news for the department in the report by Deloitte and the Partnership for Public Service: Employees there tend to stay content. The satisfaction score of new…

Sep 16, 2011 11:31 AM CDT

DOJ Suit Raises Antitrust Objections to AT&T Acquisition of T-Mobile

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to block AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile. In a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Justice Department lawyers claim that eliminating T-Mobile as a low-priced alternative will remove “a significant competitive force from the market,” according to the New York Times…

Aug 31, 2011 3:19 PM CDT