Justice Department

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At Justice, Chertoff Played Party Politics

AG frontrunner prosecuted Hillary Clinton fundraiser

(Newser) - Michael Chertoff, a frontrunner to replace Alberto Gonzales, has impressive judicial credentials, but the LA Times reports that he also has a background tinged with partisan politics. While head of the Justice Department's criminal division, the current Homeland Security secretary met with conservative activists and brought controversial charges against an...

Feds Probe Hsu for Using Mail Carrier's Family

Fundraiser may have funneled donations through others

(Newser) - The Feds are probing claims that top fundraiser Norman Hsu used a mail carrier and his family to donate to the Dems, the Wall Street Journal reports. Officials suspect that Hsu reimbursed the family for their donations, which were similar in amount and timing to Hsu’s. Hsu denies the...

Justice Dept. Will Investigate Whether Gonzales Lied

US attorney firings probe will expand

(Newser) - The Justice Department will investigate whether Alberto Gonzales gave misleading testimony to Congress, including whether he lied about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program and the US attorney firings. Inspector General Glenn Fine has alerted Congress to an expanded internal probe into the actions of the lame-luck AG, the Washington Post ...

Next AG Will Inherit Justice Budget Crunch

Pirority on terror has left few resources for other prosecutions

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales' successor at Justice will find a department seriously weakened by budget cuts that have reduced prosecutions in all types of crimes, the Wall Street Journal reports. As funds have been redirected to fighting terrorism, positions in US attorneys offices remain unfilled, and investigations have languished for months. 

With Gonzo Gone, Whither W?
With Gonzo Gone, Whither W?
Aug 28, 2007 2:19 PM CDT

With Gonzo Gone, Whither W?

Lame-duck Justice Dept., confirmation wrangling loom

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales leaves the Justice Department swamped with scandal and doubt, and the White House in a pall of uncertainty. Bush is finally unburdened of one of his administration's biggest targets, but is also increasingly alone as his closest advisers evaporate. And the confirmation hearings for Gonzales' replacement could turn...

Alberto Gonzales Resigns
Alberto Gonzales Resigns
Aug 27, 2007 7:42 AM CDT

Alberto Gonzales Resigns

Attorney general steps down after months of criticism over politicized Justice Department

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales has resigned, the White House told CNN today, after months of calls for his replacement—and even impeachment—from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worried that the Justice Department was becoming overly politicized. The AG told President Bush of his intention to step down Friday, following...

2 Airlines Fined $300M Each for Price Fixing

British Airways and Korean Air both cooperated with the Justice Department

(Newser) - A US judge has fined British Airways and Korean Air $300 million apiece for conspiring to fix prices. Both carriers had their fines reduced—British Airways could have faced a fine as high as $900 million—after pleading guilty and cooperating with the Justice Department investigation into a global price-fixing...

Feds to Porn Stars: What's Your Sign?

DoJ wants records of birthdates to keep minors out of skin flicks

(Newser) - The Justice Department wants to catalog America's porn collection, but not for the reason you might think—the feds say they're making sure minors aren't finding their way onto adult-film sets. The anti-exploitation move would require producers to turn over actors' real names, stage names, and birthdates, the New York ...

FBI Chief Refutes Gonzales
FBI Chief Refutes Gonzales
Aug 17, 2007 12:11 PM CDT

FBI Chief Refutes Gonzales

Mueller's notes call hospitalized Ashcroft 'barely articulate'

(Newser) - Newly released notes taken by the FBI director in 2004 contradict Alberto Gonzales' Senate testimony about the internal conflict over the warrantless wiretapping program. Robert Mueller's heavily redacted notes refer to hospitalized AG John Ashcroft as "feeble" and "barely articulate," the Washington Post reports—a far cry...

Terrorism Probe Focuses on Chertoff Advice

Chiquita, now under investigation, sought counsel, got nowhere

(Newser) - Chiquita is under investigation for supporting terrorism, but the company lays the blame on Michael Chertoff. In 2003, Chiquita met with Chertoff, then assistant AG, and admitted to paying protection money to a Colombian paramilitary force on the US list of terror groups. Chiquita's lawyers say they sought advice, the...

Rove Won't Testify, Citing Privilege

Counsel orders adviser to keep mum; Gonzales stands pat on testimony

(Newser) - The White House has ordered Karl Rove to keep quiet—despite a subpoena by congressional Dems probing the US Attorney firings. In a political fait accompli, counsel Fred Fielding told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the adviser is "immune from compelled congressional testimony" about White House machinations.

Airlines Plead Guilty of Price Fixing

British Airways and Korean Air socked with $300M fines in ongoing investigation

(Newser) - British Airways and Korean Air have agreed to plead guilty and pay $300 million each in criminal fines for engaging in massive conspiracies to fix the prices of passenger and cargo flights for the past six years, the US Justice Department said yesterday. BA will pony up another $247million fine...

US Attorney Targeted After DoJ Brushoff

Lawyer put on pink-slip list after refusal to slow case vs. drugmaker

(Newser) - A US attorney testified yesterday that he found himself on a firings list after rebuffing DoJ pressure to slow a case—on the eve of a guilty plea. The Post reports a Justice higher-up urged John Brownlee to stall proceedings against the manufacturer of an addictive painkiller hours before it...

FBI Raids Alaska Senator's Home
FBI Raids Alaska Senator's Home
Jul 31, 2007 4:39 AM CDT

FBI Raids Alaska Senator's Home

Feds probe politician's ties to oil contractor in corruption probe

(Newser) - FBI and IRS agents raided the vacation home of Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska yesterday, seeking records of his relationship with a oil field contractor jailed in a corruption probe,  AP reports. The contractor profited from  tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts and also supervised the renovation...

Justice Faces Blank Slate in Gonzo Probe

Few precedents for special prosecutor to investigate dept. boss

(Newser) - Solicitor General Paul Clement has a tough decision to make: whether to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate his boss Alberto Gonzales' testimony to Congress. Four Senate Democrats have written to Clement requesting a special counsel to determine if Gonzales concealed the truth in his testimony in the US Attorney...

NY Times: Impeach Gonzales
NY Times:
Impeach Gonzales
Jul 29, 2007 9:45 AM CDT

NY Times: Impeach Gonzales

Editorial board drops the 'I' bomb in call for special prosecutor

(Newser) - A scathing editorial in today's New York Times calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Alberto Gonzales' "words and deeds" and concludes with an unequivocal recommendation: "If that does not happen, Congress should impeach Mr. Gonzales." The call comes as the White House attempts...

FBI Chief's Testimony Contradicts Gonzales

Democrats demand perjury probe

(Newser) - Pressure mounted on Alberto Gonzales yesterday as FBI director Robert Mueller directly contradicted the attorney general in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Mueller and Gonzales gave dramatically different accounts about  whether the Justice department's secret eavesdropping program was the subject of the now-legendary nighttime confrontation at the hospital bedside...

House Panel Schedules Contempt Vote
House Panel Schedules Contempt Vote
Jul 24, 2007 9:35 AM CDT

House Panel Schedules Contempt Vote

Executive privilege battle looms in US attorney firings probe

(Newser) - Congress is speeding toward a constitutional collision with the White House over the US attorney firings, the Washington Post reports. The House Judiciary Committee votes tomorrow on contempt citations against current chief of staff Joshua Bolten and ex-counsel Harriet Miers. President Bush has said he will challenge any attempt to...

US Firms Fund Colombian Terror Groups

Multinationals' payoffs to paramilitaries run afoul of antiterror laws

(Newser) - Business as usual for US multinationals in Colombia involves paying off paramilitaries and guerrillas, a practice that offers "insurance" against violence—and violates US law. The LA Times looks at the tension between protecting economic investments and essentially if not directly foiling counterterrorism efforts, a conflict that has the...

Gonzales Alerted to FBI Misdeeds
Gonzales Alerted to
FBI Misdeeds
Jul 10, 2007 9:33 AM CDT

Gonzales Alerted to FBI Misdeeds

AG told of violations before testimony that no abuses occurred

(Newser) - The FBI alerted Alberto Gonzales that agents had violated privacy regulations at least six times in the weeks before he told a Senate committee that no abuses had occurred, the Washington Post reports. The 2005 and 2006 internal reports detailed numerous problems with FBI activities under the Patriot Act, but...

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