Attorney General

Twenty-three Ex-Prosecutors Selected as Corporate Monitors

The Department of Justice has appointed 30 former government officials, including prosecutors, to monitor companies seeking to avoid prosecution. Figures released yesterday by the Justice Department show 23 former prosecutors were among the monitors selected, the New York Times reports. They include former U.S. attorneys Debra Wong Yang in Los…

May 23, 2008 11:54 AM CDT

DOJ Memo Said FISA’s ‘Exclusive’ Provisions Didn’t Always Apply

A sentence in a Justice Department memo helps explain how the administration justified domestic wiretaps of overseas terrorism suspects despite a law establishing a special court to hear surveillance requests. Two senators criticized the legal interpretation in a Washington Post story that examines the memo’s legal argument. The sentence was…

May 23, 2008 10:36 AM CDT

Tired of Waiting, House Subpoenas Karl Rove to Testify in US Atty Probe

The House Judiciary Committee today subpoenaed Karl Rove, the ex-White House political adviser. He’s being called to testify as part of the committee’s continuing probe of whether the White House was overly involved with the Justice Department. The Judiciary Committee is looking into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys and…

May 22, 2008 7:26 PM CDT

Ashcroft, Chertoff Among Those Who Raised Concerns About Interrogations

Among the Justice Department officials who raised concerns about harsh interrogations of al-Qaida suspects were Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security chief who was at the time the assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division, and the attorney general himself, John Ashcroft. Sources told the Washington Post that Ashcroft…

May 22, 2008 11:59 AM CDT

Joint Phishing Operation Nets 38 Arrests

A joint investigation by U.S. and Romanian authorities has resulted the indictment of 38 people accused of taking part in a complicated Internet phishing scheme to steal thousands of credit and debit card numbers. In the two indictments unsealed Monday and filed in the Central District of California and the…

May 19, 2008 7:27 PM CDT

More Aggressive DNA Collection Protocol Coming?

DNA collection from suspects may shift into high gear now that the attorney general is directing all law enforcement agencies to begin taking samples during all arrests and detentions. The Chicago Tribune’s political blog, The Swamp, reports that the proposed rule popped up in a Federal Register notice regarding the…

May 16, 2008 3:10 PM CDT

Where Will Solicitor General Clement Go Next?

Solicitor General Paul Clement has announced he will resign on June 2, but he didn’t give any indication about his future plans. Some managing partners have guessed Clement could command annual compensation at a big law firm as high as $2 million or $3 million, Legal Times reports. But friends…

May 15, 2008 10:45 AM CDT

Chief of DOJ Criminal Division Announces Resignation

The chief of the Justice Department’s criminal division plans to quit after three years in her post. Alice Fisher was criticized at the time of her appointment because she had no experience as a federal prosecutor, reports The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Since then she has overseen corporate…

May 2, 2008 5:19 PM CDT

Gerry Spence Warms Up Jurors, Even If He Is a Bit Grumpy

Well-known trial lawyer Gerry Spence, coaxed out of semi-retirement to represent Geoffrey Fieger on charges of making illegal campaign contributions, has attracted several lawyers to the trial who want to see him in action. So many came, in fact, that several observers had to be turned away. Those who got…

May 2, 2008 2:49 PM CDT

Justice Department to Show Secret Memos to Intelligence Committees

The Justice Department has agreed to show lawmakers copies of Justice Department secret memos justifying harsh interrogation techniques in national security cases. Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees will be able to see the opinions, but they won’t be allowed to keep paper or electronic copies, the Washington…

May 1, 2008 11:09 AM CDT

Conyers Threatens to Subpoena Ex-DOJ Officials

U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is threatening to subpoena former Justice Department officials who are refusing to testify about torture policies. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and an ex-member of his Justice Department, John Yoo, have already refused requests to testify, the Washington…

Apr 29, 2008 5:05 PM CDT

E-Mails Show More Abramoff Links to Ex-DOJ Staffers; Probe Continues

Sources tell Legal Times that last week’s guilty plea by a former Justice Department official doesn’t end the investigation of DOJ ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Robert Coughlin, a former member of the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to accepting thousands of dollars worth…

Apr 28, 2008 11:55 AM CDT

Ex-DOJ Official With Abramoff Ties Pleads Guilty

A former Justice Department higher-up, Robert E. Coughlin II, pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting thousands of dollars worth of meals and tickets from disgraces lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for helping Abramoff’s clients. Coughlin, who was charged Monday, is the latest of more than a dozen public officials, lobbyists and…

Apr 23, 2008 1:47 PM CDT

DOJ’s Abramoff Probe Ensares One of Its Own

A former Justice Department official is among those ensnared by a DOJ corruption probe into the activities of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Robert E. Coughlin II, who served in the DOJ’s legislative affairs office from 2001 to 2003, was charged Monday in federal court with violating federal conflict-of-interest laws, the…

Apr 22, 2008 1:01 PM CDT

Anti-Terror Case Losses Calls DOJ’s Strategy Into Question

With few clear wins in its criminal prosecution of terrorism suspects, the Justice Department is facing scrutiny for its strategy of going after American-based terrorist cells and the people believed to fund terror plots before any deadly events occur. The Washington Post reports that jurors seemed particularly troubled by a…

Apr 21, 2008 12:55 PM CDT