Attorney General

Protesters Greet Law Professor John Yoo at UC Berkeley

At least four protesters were arrested in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday after they refused to leave the lecture hall where former Justice Department official John Yoo was teaching a civil law class. Protesters shouted “war criminal” as Yoo entered the building at the University of California Berkeley’s Boalt Hall law…

Aug 18, 2009 11:43 AM CDT

UBS Agrees to Reveal Names of Suspected US Tax Evaders

Lawyers who defend those accused of tax fraud may be seeing an increase in workload soon. Swiss bank UBS has agreed to disclose the names of U.S. clients suspected of tax evasion in a deal reached with the U.S. Justice Department, the New York Times reports. Justice Department lawyer Stuart…

Aug 12, 2009 3:26 PM CDT

White House Discussed US Attorney Iglesias for Months Before 2006 Firing

A top federal prosecutor in New Mexico was seemingly fired in 2006 after he didn’t jump on political corruption cases that could have helped a Republican lawmaker win re-election, and “extensive communication” among attorneys and aides at the White House preceded his dismissal for months beforehand, reports the Washington Post.…

Aug 11, 2009 9:48 PM CDT

AG Reportedly Close to Appointment of Prosecutor for Interrogation Probe

Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly close to appointing a criminal prosecutor to probe allegations that the CIA committed abuses in the interrogation of terrorism suspects. Unnamed government officials told the Los Angeles Times that the probe would focus on whether officials went beyond techniques authorized in Justice Department memos.…

Aug 10, 2009 3:08 PM CDT

Ex-AG Gonzales Shunned by Law Firms—and Apparently by Bush

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, still under investigation for his role in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, has been accused of being loyal to a fault to the man who appointed him, former President George W. Bush. Now Gonzales isn’t hearing from Bush—or from law firms wanting to extend…

Aug 10, 2009 11:39 AM CDT

Administration Weighs in on State Secrets in an Employee Firing Dispute

An amicus brief filed by the administration in a case involving a worker’s conversations with a lawyer is raising concern among liberals for its position on the state secrets privilege. The case stems from a dispute over a fired employee’s conversations with a lawyer for his onetime employer, Mohawk Industries,…

Aug 4, 2009 2:50 PM CDT

Fired By Ashcroft, Hired By Holder: Guendelsberger Again Tapped for BIA

In a symbolic move, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has made his first appointment to the nation’s highest immigration appeals panel. His selection: John Guendelsberger, a former immigration law professor and eight-year veteran of the Board of Immigration Appeals who lost his seat in 2003 when then-Attorney General John Ashcroft…

Aug 3, 2009 8:58 PM CDT

AG Holder Calls for Getting ‘Smart on Crime’ #ABAChicago

Drawing a sharp contrast between the Bush and Obama administrations, without ever naming the former, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the ABA House of Delegates that “we no longer must choose between more prisoners or more crime.” He declared the Department of Justice under his watch will “embrace the…

Aug 3, 2009 8:31 PM CDT

Ex-AGs Weigh in on Possible Interrogation Tactics Probe, US Atty Firings #ABAChicago

When you put six former U.S. attorneys general together on a panel at a convention of lawyers, it’s pretty safe to assume the meeting room won’t be big enough. That was the case Friday morning at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, when a Litigation Section program titled “Lessons from…

Jul 31, 2009 7:42 PM CDT

GOP Critics Want DOJ to Reinstate Panther Voter Intimidation Case

Some Republican lawmakers are asking the Justice Department to refile civil charges against the New Black Panther Party in a controversial voter intimidation case. U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., cites an opinion from the Congressional Research Service that says the charges could be refiled without violating the ban on double…

Jul 31, 2009 3:32 PM CDT

Karl Rove Tells N.Y. Times: I Relayed US Attorney Hiring & Firing Info

A former top White House aide during the administration of President George W. Bush says he relayed information that may have encouraged the hiring and firing of federal prosecutors, including at least one of the nine U.S. attorneys who reportedly may have been dismissed for political reasons in 2006. However,…

Jul 30, 2009 8:38 PM CDT

AG Holder Says Cop’s Search of His Trunk Was Racial Profiling

Attorney General Eric Holder recalls a trip to Washington, D.C., in college when a police officer pulled him over and demanded to search the trunk of his car. Holder, the nation’s first black attorney general, told ABC News he believes the search was the result of racial profiling. “You know,…

Jul 30, 2009 2:00 PM CDT

No Shortage of Politicians and Legal Legends at ABA Annual Meeting #ABAChicago

Politicians and judges will be in abundant supply at the ABA Annual Meeting that kicks off in Chicago on Thursday. The headliner is newly retired Justice David H. Souter, who will keynote the ABA’s opening assembly on Saturday evening. Souter will talk about the need for civics education, a topic…

Jul 29, 2009 7:19 PM CDT

Lightning Kills DOJ Lawyer During Evening Jog

Lightning struck and killed a vacationing Justice Department lawyer Monday as he was out for an evening jog on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Matthew Glomb, 49, of Woodbridge, Va., was killed instantly, the Washington Post reports. Glomb worked in the Justice Department’s aviation-admiralty office and was a graduate…

Jul 29, 2009 11:22 AM CDT

John Yoo Doesn’t Take Criticism Quietly

Former Justice Department official John Yoo is facing criticism and a lawsuit over legal memos approving harsh interrogation techniques of terrorism suspects, but that hasn’t caused him to retreat from the public eye. Yoo, a tenured law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, is teaching courses as a…

Jul 27, 2009 3:17 PM CDT