Attorney General

Mukasey to Make High Court Appearance

For the first time in more than a decade, the U.S. attorney general will argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorney General Michael Mukasey will ask the justices to reinstate the sentence of al-Qaida plotter Ahmed Ressam in an argument on March 25, the Washington Post reports. A…

Mar 12, 2008 12:31 PM CDT

Former AG Ashcroft Spars With Legislator Over Monitoring Contract

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft sparred with the chairwoman of a House Judiciary subcommittee who questioned him today about his consulting firm’s contract to monitor an Indiana medical supply company. U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez of California described the contract as a “sweetheart deal” in which “Ashcroft was selected with no…

Mar 11, 2008 7:08 PM CDT

Former AG Ashcroft Testifies Today in Corporate Monitor Hearings

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft testifies before a House Judiciary subcommittee today on the hiring of monitors to police corporate behavior. The U.S. attorney in New Jersey gave Ashcroft’s firm a lucrative contract to monitor an Indiana medical supply company as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. The committee wants…

Mar 11, 2008 1:31 PM CDT

House Legal Arm, Led by Veteran D.C. Firm Partner, Files Contempt Suit

Updated: A lawsuit (PDF) filed today by the House of Representatives seeks to enforce subpoenas against two Bush aides, the Washington Post reports. The complaint was drafted by Irvin Nathan, a former chairman of Arnold & Porter’s white-collar practice who jumped from the law firm to head the House General…

Mar 10, 2008 4:45 PM CDT

Law Prof’s Sarcastic Op-Ed Cites ‘Mukasey’s Paradox’

Law professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University is taking aim at recent decisions by the attorney general by giving a name to the legal reasoning that spurred them: Mukasey’s Paradox. Turley makes his points in an op-ed published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He says he once was troubled by…

Mar 10, 2008 2:07 PM CDT

Boston Law Won’t Award Top Medal to Mukasey When He Addresses Grads

Attorney General Michael Mukasey will be the first commencement speaker in some time at Boston College Law School who won’t receive its highest award, but he won’t be the last. Law school dean John Garvey announced yesterday that the school will no longer give its Founder’s Medal to commencement speakers,…

Mar 5, 2008 11:37 AM CST

Senate Confirms Filip as No. 2 Justice Official

The Senate has confirmed Mark Filip, a federal judge in Chicago, to become the Justice Department’s second in command. The confirmation was part of a broader agreement by Democrats to confirm more White House appointments, report the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). In exchange, the administration…

Mar 4, 2008 11:49 AM CST

Mukasey Won’t Ask Grand Jury to Indict Bush Aides

Attorney General Michael Mukasey says the Justice Department won’t seek the prosecution of White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers. Mukasey sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying he won’t refer House contempt citations to a grand jury because the aides…

Mar 3, 2008 11:35 AM CST

Five Convicted in AIG Reinsurance Scheme

A federal jury in Connecticut has found five former insurance executives guilty of securities fraud in a reinsurance scheme that boosted the stock price of American International Group Inc. Prosecutors said the investigation is continuing, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and New York Times. “We’ve got a lot…

Feb 26, 2008 1:08 PM CST

House Holds Ex-White House Counsel, Chief of Staff in Contempt

The House has voted to hold former White House counsel Harriet Miers and chief of staff Josh Bolten in contempt for failing to cooperate in a probe of the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. Angry Republicans walked out in advance of the vote, the Associated Press reports. The vote was…

Feb 14, 2008 7:49 PM CST

DOJ Official Who Signed 2005 Waterboarding Memo Revisits the Issue

A Justice Department official who signed two secret legal memos in 2005 authorizing the use of waterboarding now says the department has made no determination that the interrogation method is legal under current law. Steven Bradbury, acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, makes the statement in…

Feb 14, 2008 3:35 PM CST

DOJ May Have Known of CIA Tape Destruction a Year Before Court Disclosure

Documents released in the appeal of convicted al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui showed that Justice Department lawyers knew since at least early 2006 that the CIA destroyed a videotaped interrogation of an al-Qaida lieutenant from whom Moussaoui sought information. The date is more than a year before the destruction of the…

Feb 7, 2008 11:42 AM CST

Attorney General Gives Gay Pride Group Same Rights as Others

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has reversed a five-year-old decision that had banned a gay pride group from using Justice Department e-mail, bulletin boards and meeting rooms. The group DOJ Pride had been allowed to meet in the Justice Department’s Great Hall during the Clinton years, but under the Bush administration…

Feb 5, 2008 11:36 AM CST

Former SG Ted Olson Switches Support to McCain

Former solicitor general Ted Olson, chair of Rudy Giuliani’s justice advisory committee, has switched his support to John McCain after the withdrawal of his candidate from the presidential race. Olson praised McCain’s views on judicial nominees, reports the Chicago Tribune blog, The Swamp. “John McCain has a deep-rooted conservative philosophy…

Feb 1, 2008 6:21 PM CST

Yale Law Students Protest at Speech by Judge Who Signed ‘Torture Memo’

About 25 law students put garbage bags over their heads to protest an appearance yesterday by Judge Jay Bybee, who signed the so-called torture memo when he headed the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. The trash bags were intended to resemble hoods put on military prisoners at Abu Ghraib…

Feb 1, 2008 2:38 PM CST