Justice Department

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AP Scandal Fallout: Obama Asks for Press Shield Law

Chuck Schumer to introduce bill at White House's behest

(Newser) - Chuck Schumer re-introduced his media-protection bill today at the White House's request, as the administration reels from the AP phone record scandal . The bill, called the Free Flow of Information Act, would make it so that journalists couldn't be compelled to reveal their sources until all other options...

Media Finally Gets It: Obama Is a Joke on Civil Liberties

Glenn Greenwald: Sad that it took a direct attack on the media to wake it up

(Newser) - Look around today, and it's easy to find a news story or column criticizing President Obama and his Justice Department for going after reporters' phone records. (Like these in the Washington Post , Politico , and the New York Times .) To which Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian can only say,...

Holder: I'm Not Sure How Often We Spy on Journalists

Attorney general to face House grilling today

(Newser) - The Justice Department's secret subpoena of AP phone records might not have been a one-time occurrence. Eric Holder tells NPR that he has no idea how many times he'd allowed the department to snoop on journalists. "I'm not sure how many of those cases … I...

Journalists Blast 'Chilling' Seizure of AP's Records

From Fox to Daily Kos, they're furious

(Newser) - News that the government seized two months of phone records from the Associated Press has drawn blistering criticism of the White House from a wide variety of news organizations, Politico reports. Fox's Greta Van Susteren says the Justice Department's action "sounds like a dragnet to intimidate the...

Gov't Seized AP Reporters' Phone Records

AP calls it an 'unprecedented intrusion'

(Newser) - The government secretly seized two months of phone records from the Associated Press, according to the AP itself. The Justice Department took records for 20 separate phone lines, including incoming and outgoing calls, the length of each call, and reporters' personal phone numbers. "These records potentially reveal communications with...

Enron's Skilling to Cut 10 Years Off Sentence

Former CEO might be out in 2017

(Newser) - Remember the great Enron collapse of 2001? Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling has been in prison for more than six years now on convictions of fraud, conspiracy, and insider trading at the now-defunct energy giant. But freedom might be near, reports the Wall Street Journal . Skilling has struck a deal with...

Feds Appeal Judge's Plan B Decision

Justice Dept. says he had no right to make it available to all ages

(Newser) - The "Plan B" Iegal fight gets a little more tangled: The Justice Department today said it will appeal a judge's decision lifting all age limits on the birth-control pill and a cheaper generic. The federal government says the judge who issued the ruling exceeded his authority, and it...

Holder to Americans: No 'Retaliation' for Boston

Attorney general cautions against backlash against innocents

(Newser) - The US will bring the Boston terrorists to justice, said Eric Holder in a speech today—while cautioning Americans against retaliation. "Just as we will pursue relentlessly anyone who would target our people or attempt to terrorize our cities, the Justice Department is firmly committed to protecting innocent people...

Gov't Sues Armstrong for USPS Money

Department of Justice actually wants 3x the sponsorship funds

(Newser) - All that money the US Postal Service spent to sponsor Lance Armstrong's cycling team? The Justice Department wants it back, and more. It filed a lawsuit against the cyclist and his company last night, just as its deadline to do so was about to expire. Armstrong's doping was,...

Obama to Tap Justice Official for Labor Chief

Thomas Perez leads Justice's Civil Rights Division

(Newser) - Seeking to fill yet another second-term Cabinet vacancy, President Obama is set today to nominate Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general, to be the next secretary of labor, the White House says. If confirmed by the Senate, Perez, who has been head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division...

Holder: US Can Kill an American on Home Soil

But in response to hypothetical query, he stresses it's unlikely

(Newser) - Eric Holder says President Obama would be in his rights to order the killing of a US citizen on American soil under rare circumstances, reports Mother Jones . But in a letter to Rand Paul answering Paul's question on the matter, the attorney general stressed it would have to a...

White House Urges Court to Uphold Gay Marriage

Justice Department weighs in on California's Prop 8 case

(Newser) - The Obama administration has ramped up its fight for gay marriage at the Supreme Court ahead of two big cases in late March. The Justice Department today issued a legal brief urging the court to strike down California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, reports the Los Angeles Times...

House Unveils Medical Pot Bill

Legalization bill gets feds out of 'never-never land,' sponsor says

(Newser) - A bipartisan bill to end the federal prohibition of medical marijuana—and close the ever-greater gap between state and federal policy—was unveiled by House lawmakers yesterday, Politico reports. Chief sponsor Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, described the legislation as a way to clear up the current confusion around federal...

Justice Department Joins Suit Against Armstrong

Teaming with Floyd Landis

(Newser) - The Justice Department has jumped onto Floyd Landis' lawsuit against Lance Armstrong, arguing that the disgraced cyclist defrauded the government by violating its ban on illegal drugs while under contract to race for the US Postal Service team. The government is asking for around $100 million, or about three times...

Why Aren't We Prosecuting Singing S&P Fraudsters?

William Greider wonders if this is Obama's Watergate

(Newser) - The Justice Department's lawsuit against Standard and Poor's looks pretty damning. According to the suit, S&P knew its ratings on mortgage bonds were too loose, proposed upgrading them in 2004—and then decided not to because it would hurt the bottom line, Fortune explains. The suit makes...

Obama's Memo on Killing US Citizens Is a Disgrace

Glenn Greenwald: No free society should sanction this

(Newser) - The Obama administration's rationale for when it's OK to kill US citizens is fundamentally un-American, writes Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian . For example, the Justice Department memo says the US is justified in going after terrorists—based on the assertions of US officials supposedly in the know about...

Feds Can Kill US Citizens: DOJ Memo

Leaked document has loose definition of requirements for drone strike

(Newser) - It is legal for the American government to order the killing of an American citizen if a "high-level" official decides that the person is a senior member of al-Qaeda or an associated group who poses "an imminent threat of violent attack" against the US, according to a Justice...

Justice Filing Suit Against S&P Over 2008 Meltdown

Feds will accuse firm of fraudulently rating mortgage bonds

(Newser) - The Justice Department and state prosecutors are filing a lawsuit against the Standard & Poor's Ratings Service for its apparent role in the 2008 financial meltdown, the New York Times reports. The civil suit will accuse S&P of rating mortgage bonds too highly before their value fell off...

Feds Sue to Stop Merger of Bud, Corona

Anheuser-Busch InBev seeks a deal with Mexico's Grupo Modelo

(Newser) - The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today to stop Anheuser-Busch InBev's proposed $20.1 billion purchase of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, which would unite the ownership of popular beers like Budweiser and Corona. The government said the deal could lead to higher beer prices in the US because it...

Anonymous Hacks US Site to Avenge Aaron Swartz

Government's sentencing agency is the target

(Newser) - The hackers of Anonymous have hit the website of the US Sentencing Commission in revenge for the prosecution of Aaron Swartz, reports CNN . The site ussc.gov remained down as of this morning. The hackers say they have stolen sensitive Justice Department files—naming them after Supreme Court justices—and...

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