MEK

Feds Say Court Shouldn't Interfere With MEK Terror List Review

Ryan J. Reilly | March 27, 2012, 12:05PM

MEK supporters rally outside the State Department as former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) speaks.

The Obama administration said Monday that an appeals court shouldn't interfere with the government's review of its designation of an Iranian opposition group as a terrorist organization.

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, also known as MEK, wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to make the U.S. State Department purge the group from its list of designated terrorist organizations or require it take specific actions within a certain timeframe, Reuters reports.

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ACLU

ACLU Wants Info On Drone Strikes Against U.S. Citizens

Jillian Rayfield | February 6, 2012, 11:52AM

The ACLU is suing the federal government for the release of records related to the program of using unmanned drones for "targeted killing" of U.S. citizens overseas.

On Wednesday, the ACLU filed in U.S. District Court in New York to force the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the CIA to release records on overseas drone use, in compliance with a Freedom of Information Act request.

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Joe Arpaio

Latino Military Veteran Not Expected To Survive After Scuffle With Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Officers

Nick R. Martin | December 20, 2011, 3:50PM

A Latino military veteran is brain dead and his family is planning to decide today whether to take him off life support, following his scuffle with officers last week in one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jails.

Ernest "Marty" Atencio was injured early Friday morning, just hours after the Justice Department released a scathing report accusing the Arizona sheriff of running an agency that regularly violates the rights of Latinos.

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Barack Obama

White House Still Threatening Veto Over Terrorists In Military Custody Mandate

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2011, 12:00PM

Administration officials are continuing to express concern that section 1032 of the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate Thursday night will present big problems for counterterrorism officials in their efforts to stop future attacks. The Senate killed an amendment that would have explicitly said U.S. citizens can't be held in custody indefinitely but passed language that said the law on the mater hasn't changed.

The White House confirmed to TPM on Friday morning that their veto threat still stands. They believe that the "unnecessary, untested, and legally controversial" restrictions that would mandate certain terrorist suspects go into military custody would "disrupt the Executive branch's ability to enforce the law and impose unwise and unwarranted restrictions on the U.S. Government's ability to aggressively combat international terrorism."

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Voting Rights Act

DOJ: Texas Has Provided 'Incomplete' Information In Probe Of Rick Perry Signed Voter ID Law

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2011, 5:45PM

Governor Rick Perry (R-TX)

Texas provided "incomplete" information that does not enable federal officials to determine whether their proposed voter ID law would be discriminatory, the Justice Department said in a letter Wednesday.

Essentially, the letter from DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section Chief T. Christian Herren Jr. restarts the clock on when the Department has to make a decision about whether the law signed by Gov. Rick Perry complies with the Voting Rights Act. They have 60 days from when Texas sends them complete information.

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Department of Justice

Former DHS Official Calls For DOJ To Probe NYPD Spying Program

Ryan J. Reilly | October 20, 2011, 12:00PM

A former official with the Department of Homeland Security wants the Justice Department to probe the New York Police Department for their infiltration and surveillance of Muslim communities.

Sahar F. Aziz, Associate Professor of Law and Texas Wesleyan School of Law, encouraged the Justice Department to open an investigation into the NYPD during a DOJ-sponsored conference on post-Sept. 11 discrimination on Wednesday.

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Department of Justice

Advocates Give Government 'Mixed Review' On Combatting Post-9/11 Backlash

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2011, 1:05PM

Discrimination and hatred against Muslim and Sikh-Americans continues to be a legacy of the September 11 attack, even ten years on, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said Wednesday.

"We must reject any suggestion that every Muslim is a terrorist or that every terrorist is a Muslim," Cole said. "As we have seen time and again -- from Oklahoma City to the recent attacks in Oslo, Norway -- no religion or ethnicity has a monopoly on terror."

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FBI

The Five Most Bizarre Terror Plots Hatched Under The FBI's Watch

Ryan J. Reilly and Brian Fung | October 3, 2011, 6:00AM

Undercover FBI agents have helped and informants have watched as alleged wanna-be terrorists form some pretty bizarre and improbable terror plots in the years since Sept. 11. But the plot 26-year-old Rezwan Ferdaus allegedly hatched to fly model airplanes loaded with C-4 into the Pentagon and the dome of the Capitol might be the most unlikely yet.

"I'm hard pressed to think of a case that I looked at that I would describe as more outlandish than this one," Trevor Aaronson, who wrote an extensive report for Mother Jones after studying 508 federal terrorism cases over the past decade, told TPM. "As far as sting operations, this has been one of the more outlandish."

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FBI

FBI Arrests Man For Plotting To Attack Capitol, Pentagon With C-4 Loaded Remote Controlled Planes

Ryan J. Reilly | September 28, 2011, 3:30PM

Updated: 5:55PM

Rezwan Ferdaus, a 26-year-old Massachusetts resident was arrested in an FBI sting on Wednesday after allegedly plotting to use large remote controlled model airplanes packed with C-4 plastic explosives to attack the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.

Ferdaus allegedly traveled to Washington, D.C. to take photos of his targets in May 2011, all while under FBI surveillance. The Northeastern University graduate allegedly began planning to commit "jihad" against the United States in early 2010 and obtained mobile phones that he modified to act as an electrical switch for an IED.

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Department of Justice

DOJ Says They've Debunked The '$16 Muffin' Myth

Ryan J. Reilly | September 24, 2011, 12:43PM

Simon Greig / Shutterstock

The Justice Department says their Inspector General's conclusion that they paid $16 per muffin at a legal conference in 2009 is, pardon the pun, half baked.

"Under a complete accounting of the services provided for the Executive Office for Immigration Review conference, it is clear that the muffins did not cost $16," DOJ spokeswoman Gina Talamona said in a statement.

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Voting Rights Act

Judge Upholds Constitutionality Of Section Five Of Voting Rights Act

Ryan J. Reilly | September 21, 2011, 10:30AM

Image From VIPDesignUSA / Shutterstock

Updated: Sept. 21, 2011 1:03PM

A federal judge nominated by President George W. Bush has upheld the constitutionality of a part of the Voting Rights Act that requires certain parts of the country to have their election laws precleared by the federal government to prevent unlawful discrimination, shooting down a challenge from Shelby County, Alabama.

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News Of The World

DOJ Reportedly Asking News Corp For Info Related To Police Bribery Probe

Jillian Rayfield | September 20, 2011, 4:54PM

U.S. prosecutors have reportedly sent News Corporation a letter requesting information for an investigation into whether the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in relation to allegations that News Corp reporters bribed police officers in Britain.

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Rick Perry

What DOJ Tossing Texas' Redistricting Plan Means For Rick Perry

Ryan J. Reilly | September 20, 2011, 6:30AM

As if Rick Perry needed another reason to dislike the federal government.

The Justice Department's decision to oppose the redistricting plan Perry signed as Governor of Texas is raising questions over whether he and state Republicans tried to dilute the voter power of Latinos by gerrymandering them into particular districts.

DOJ's opening serve sets the scene for a major court battle over how the lines will be drawn in the Lone Star state. Federal attorneys are expected to offer more details of their objections in a filing Tuesday and in federal court in D.C. on Wednesday.

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Health Care

Private Health Care Provider Settles Over Massive Fraud Scheme

David Stern | September 15, 2011, 4:00PM

Image by Mike Flippo / Shutterstock

Maxim Healthcare Services agreed to a wide-ranging Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with federal and state authorities on charges that the company participated in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the Department of Justice announced this week. The criminal complaint against Maxim details how the company allegedly defrauded Medicaid and Veterans Affairs programs through false billings from 2003 to 2009.

As a private health care service provider, Maxim primarily provides home health care services and medical staffing to hospitals and assisted living facilities. As part of the DPA, Maxim signed a Statement of Facts agreeing with the allegations made in the complaint - the text of which suggests the extent of the company's fraud may have affected the quality of care it provided.

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Alabama

Federal Judge Blocks Alabama's Immigration Law

Jillian Rayfield | August 29, 2011, 3:51PM

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R)

A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction against Alabama's controversial immigration crackdown, ruling that she needed more time to determine whether the law is constitutional. The law had been scheduled to go into effect on September 1st.

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Department of Justice

DOJ's Suit Against Alabama Immigration Law Headed To Court

Jillian Rayfield | August 23, 2011, 4:57PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

The Department of Justice and lawyers for the state of Alabama will face-off in federal court Wednesday over the state's controversial immigration law.

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Department of Justice

DOJ Files Lawsuit Against Alabama Immigration Law

Jillian Rayfield | August 1, 2011, 6:09PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit challenging Alabama's immigration crackdown, arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it interferes with federal enforcement of immigration policies.

The DOJ has asked the courts to grant a preliminary injunction against the law, which is scheduled to go into effect September 1st, because it will cause "irreparable harm" if allowed to stand until the law can work its way through the court system.

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Rupert Murdoch

Report: Justice Department Prepping Subpoenas For News Corp Inquiry

Jillian Rayfield | July 22, 2011, 9:20AM

The Department of Justice is preparing subpoenas for preliminary investigations of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Department of Justice

Countrywide, Saxon To Pay Over $22M For Foreclosing On Members Of Military

Ryan J. Reilly | May 26, 2011, 2:28PM

Two lenders who wrongfully foreclosed upon active duty members of the military without obtaining court orders will provide more than $22 million in million in monetary relief under settlement agreements with the federal government.

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CAIR

Right-Wing, Peter King Accuse DOJ Of Dropping CAIR Probe For Political Reasons

Jillian Rayfield | April 19, 2011, 2:11PM

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Attorney General Eric Holder

There's a brand-new Muslim conspiracy theory in town.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, has sent a letter to the Department of Justice demanding that it explain a report that they dropped a probe of suspected terrorism ties among Council On American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) officials. "It raises the most serious question for the Justice Department to decline to even attempt to prosecute individuals and organizations, accused by a US Attorney and found by a federal judge, to have a nexus with fundraising for an organization which conducts terror attacks upon civilians," King wrote in his letter.

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Arizona

DOJ Asks Courts To Throw Out Arizona Suit Over Border Security

Jillian Rayfield | April 14, 2011, 11:45AM

Attorney General Eric Holder

The federal government has asked a judge to throw out the state of Arizona's lawsuit over border security, calling the suit "of a political nature" and coloring it as an attempt to spin the government's own suit against Arizona over its controversial immigration law.

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Arizona

Ninth Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Arizona Immigration Law

Jillian Rayfield | April 11, 2011, 2:58PM

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) and Attorney General Eric Holder

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday struck down Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's appeal of a preliminary injunction against the state's controversial immigration law, upholding the decision by a District Court judge to block key parts of the law until the Justice Department's lawsuit against it is decided.

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John Ensign

Former Ensign Love Triangle Aide Indicted For Post-Senate Lobbying

Susan Crabtree | March 24, 2011, 6:06PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Federal prosecutors have charged the husband of Sen. John Ensign's (R-NV) former mistress with breaking criminal revolving-door lobbying laws.

The indictment, issued Thursday afternoon, charges Doug Hampton, a former top aide to Ensign, with seven counts of violating conflict-of-interest laws, according to a Justice Department release.

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U.S. Marshals Service

Why The Spike In Shootings Of U.S. Marshals?

Ryan J. Reilly | March 9, 2011, 11:35AM

The death of Deputy U.S. Marshal John Perry in St. Louis yesterday marked the second death of an officer with the nation's oldest federal law enforcement agency in the line of duty this year. The incidents are shining a light on the expanding role of federal law enforcement in apprehending state and local felons and raising questions about the impact of proposed budget cuts on the safety of federal law enforcement officers.

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) hadn't had an officer die in the line of duty from gunfire since the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992 until the death of 24-year-old Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller last month. Tuesday's incident also marked at least the fourth violent confrontation the U.S. Marshals have been involved with since the beginning of the year.

There's no one answer for why the U.S. Marshals have found themselves increasingly in the line of fire. But all four incidents this year -- the deaths of the two U.S. Marshals and the deaths of two task force officers working with the USMS as well as the deaths of two additional Florida police officers in January -- came when the agency was pairing with local law enforcement to apprehend non-federal fugitives.

The USMS has seven Fugitive Apprehension Task Forces around the country and another 75 Violent Offender Task Forces run by various regional USMS offices. And the volume of state and local fugitives apprehended or cleared by the Marshals Service through a decade-old initiative has surged from just 15,412 in 2004 to 34,015 in 2007 and 73,915 in 2008. The number peaked at 101,910 in 2009 (likely due to apprehension and Fugitive Safe Surrender programs funded by stimulus funds) then dropped in 2010, when the agency captured or cleared 52,519 violent state and local felony fugitives. The USMS is planning to apprehend or clear 52,000 state and local felony fugitives in 2012.

So for one, the USMS is simply involved in more incidents. Part of that is due to state law enforcement budget cuts, which have made local law enforcement more reliant on the Marshals for help in apprehending dangerous criminals.

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Eric Holder

Judge: Eric Holder Violated DOJ Policy With Public Statements On FBI Terrorism Sting

Ryan J. Reilly | February 23, 2011, 7:56PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

A federal judge said Wednesday that Attorney General Eric Holder violated Justice Department policy by making statements defending the FBI's actions in the sting case against the so-called Christmas Tree bomber.

U.S. District Judge Garr M. King wrote in a filing late Wednesday that he was concerned about statements Holder made "regarding defendant's state of mind and specific activities," which he concluded "constitute a breach" of a Justice Department policy on the release of information relating to criminal and civil proceedings.

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Defense of Marriage Act

GLAD Lawyer Expects Members Of Congress To Defend DOMA In Court

Ryan J. Reilly | February 23, 2011, 5:00PM

President Barack Obama and GLAD Executive Director Lee Swislow

The big question following the Obama administration's announcement that it would not argue in support of the Defense of Marriage Act is whether Congress (or individual members of the House or Senate) would step in to defend the law themselves.

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Michael Scanlon

Michael Scanlon Likely To Serve In Florida Prison, Be Evaluated For Alcohol Abuse

Ryan J. Reilly | February 22, 2011, 2:20PM

Michael Scanlon

A federal judge ordered last week that Michael Scanlon should serve his 20-month sentence in the lowest security prison facility at the Bureau of Prisons facility in Pensacola, Florida.

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John Edwards

Feds Near Decision Point On Whether To Indict John Edwards

Ryan J. Reilly | February 15, 2011, 11:05AM

Former Presidential Candidate John Edwards

After a two-year grand jury investigation into former presidential candidate John Edwards, federal prosecutors are reviewing the final evidence in what they believe is a strong case against the former Senator from North Carolina, NBC News reports.

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GITMO

Despite Not Owning It, DOJ Asks For Money To Renovate 'Gitmo North'

Ryan J. Reilly | February 14, 2011, 3:32PM

The Justice Department is still holding out hope that Congress will give the federal government money to purchase Thomson prison, the state facility in Illinois that was originally intended to hold the detainees from Guantanamo.

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Scott Bloch

Scott Bloch Flip-Flops, Asks To Withdraw Guilty Plea

Ryan J. Reilly | February 11, 2011, 6:50PM

Former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch

Former Bush administration official Scott Bloch, who originally pleaded guilty to contempt of Congress under a plea agree with the Justice Department, wants to reverse course after a judge ruled he had to spend at least a month in prison.

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Michael Scanlon

Abramoff Pal Michael Scanlon Wants Sentence Reduced Because Of 'Casino Jack' Film

Ryan J. Reilly | February 8, 2011, 10:48AM

Michael Scanlon and Jack Abramoff

Lawyers for Michael Scanlon -- one of the central figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal set to be sentenced on Friday -- say their client deserves less than the two years in jail the federal government requested since he "believed he was literally risking his life" by cooperating with the feds.

Scanlon's attorneys throw in everything but the kitchen sink while pointing out reasons why Scanlon shouldn't serve a full two years. One of them: an actor's portray of him in the recent flick "Casino Jack" starring Kevin Spacey has already soiled his reputation.

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Scott Bloch

DOJ Fights To Keep Bush Official Scott Bloch Out Of Prison

Ryan J. Reilly | February 7, 2011, 4:25PM

Former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch

The sentencing of Bush administration official Scott Bloch was delayed today after federal prosecutors filed a last minute motion to try to save a plea deal they had worked out with the former head of the Office of Special Counsel that would prevent him from heading to prison.

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Scott Bloch

Judge Says Scott Bloch Must Spend At Least A Month In Prison

Ryan J. Reilly | February 3, 2011, 9:35AM

Former U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch

Today was supposed to be Scott Bloch's day in court and, given that he'd reached a deal with prosecutors and pled guilty to misdemeanor contempt of Congress, the outcome had seemed relatively certain -- he wasn't headed to prison. But a judge had other plans.

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Bobby Franklin

Georgia Republican: Nobody Should Need A Driver's License

Ryan J. Reilly | February 2, 2011, 8:50AM

Bobby Franklin

Republican Georgia state legislator Bobby Franklin thinks that driver's licenses impose undue restrictions on the right of citizens to travel. So he's proposed legislation to stop the state from issuing them.

"Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose," Franklin's legislation states. "Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right."

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FBI

FBI Agent Threatened To Release Sex Tape With Reporter

Ryan J. Reilly | January 28, 2011, 3:10PM

For an agency with 34,300 employees, the fact that just roughly 325 to 350 FBI employees are disciplined each year bodes pretty well for their ethical conduct. But that doesn't make the violations allegedly committed by those who engaged in conduct unbecoming any less disturbing.

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Allen Stanford

Allen Stanford's Case Highlights Prison Violence

Ryan J. Reilly | January 27, 2011, 1:45PM

Allen Stanford

An inmate at the Joe Corley Detention Facility, a private prison owned by the GEO Group, was on the phone in his cell. The other prisoners in his unit on that day in late September 2009 didn't like that.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

New White House Picks (Almost) Rebalance Civil Rights Commission

Ryan J. Reilly | January 27, 2011, 11:45AM

Roberta Achtenberg and Marty R. Castro

President Barack Obama on Wednesday appointed two new commissioners to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a federal agency best know recently for its partisan focus on investigating the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case. The White House's move will rebalance what was intended to be a bipartisan panel which came under conservative control thanks to a move during the Bush administration to "game" the system.

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Eric Holder

Holder: Ghailani Life Sentence Shows Strength Of Justice System

Ryan J. Reilly | January 25, 2011, 1:55PM

Attorney General Eric Holder said the life sentence given to the first former Guantanamo inmate tried in a civilian courtroom today shows the ability of the American legal system to deal with terrorism cases.

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Department of Justice

Effort To 'Modernize' Miranda Looks Dead, But DOJ Wouldn't Release New 'Guidance'

Ryan J. Reilly | January 21, 2011, 12:15PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Nine months after it was first floated by the Obama administration, a plan to "modernize" Miranda rights doesn't seem to be going anywhere in the legislative branch. But Attorney General Eric Holder issued a guidance a few months ago that the Justice Department says sets no specific time limit on the so-called public safety exception.

The Justice Department has indicated that the guidance, which is still not public, takes care of most of the issues about which they were concerned without any input from Congress or the courts.

"While law enforcement has been employing this practice for some time - including during the Dec. 25 attempted bombing, we wanted to make clear this guidance and undertook process to refine it and once that process was complete - sent it out," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd told TPM.

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Jarrod D. Massey

Convicted Alabama Bingo Briber Massey Heads To Prison

Ryan J. Reilly | January 20, 2011, 8:55AM

Jarrod D. Massey, a former casino lobbyist who admitted he bought and sold votes in the Alabama state legislator on pro-gambling legislature, went to prison yesterday. And he doesn't even know how long he'll be there.

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