Tag: Trump Justice Department

Senior Justice Department official rejects Republican complaints about Russia investigation

The following article by Chris Megerian was posted on the Los Angeles Times website December 13, 2017:

Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein speaks before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. He defended special counsel Robert S. Mueller III from Republican accusations that the investigation into President Trump’s allies was tainted by partisan bias. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into whether President Trump’s team assisted Russian meddling in last year’s campaign, pushed back strongly Wednesday against Republican accusations that the probe is infected with partisan bias and steadfastly defended special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

“The special counsel’s investigation is not a witch hunt,” Rosenstein told a heated House Judiciary Committee hearing, specifically rejecting the phrase that President Trump has used to denounce the case. He said Mueller has managed the case “appropriately.”

Rosenstein also said he would not fire Mueller unless the former FBI director had violated Justice Department guidelines or the law. “If there were good cause, I would act,” he said. “If there were no good cause, I would not.” Continue reading “Senior Justice Department official rejects Republican complaints about Russia investigation”

While eyes are on Russia, Sessions dramatically reshapes the Justice Department

The following article by Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz was posted on the Washington Post website November 24, 2017:

The Post’s Matt Zapotosky explains how Jeff Sessions has been quickly and effectively implementing President Trump’s vision for America. (Joyce Lee, Matt Zapotosky/The Washington Post)

For more than five hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sat in a hearing room on Capitol Hill this month, fending off inquiries on Washington’s two favorite topics: President Trump and Russia.

But legislators spent little time asking Sessions about the dramatic and controversial changes in policy he has made since taking over the top law enforcement job in the United States nine months ago. Continue reading “While eyes are on Russia, Sessions dramatically reshapes the Justice Department”

Justice Dept. to Weigh Inquiry Into Clinton Foundation

The following article by Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman was posted on the New York Times website November 13, 2017:

The Shootaring Canyon uranium mill in the desert outside Ticaboo, Utah, last month. Credit George Frey/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Monday that prosecutors were looking into whether a special counsel should be appointed to investigate political rivals President Trump has singled out for scrutiny, including Hillary Clinton.

The department, in a letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee, said the prosecutors would examine allegations that donations to the Clinton Foundation were tied to a 2010 decision by the Obama administrationto allow a Russian nuclear agency to buy Uranium One, a company that owned access to uranium in the United States, and other issues. Continue reading “Justice Dept. to Weigh Inquiry Into Clinton Foundation”

Justice Department Says Not So Fast to AT&T’s Time Warner Bid

The following article by Michael J. de la Merced, Emily Steel, Andrew Ross Sorkin and Cecilia Kang was posted on the New York Times website November 8, 2017:

An AT&T store in Manhattan’s East Village. Credit Christian Hansen for The New York Times

It seemed like a match made in media heaven. AT&T is a telecommunications giant whose reach stretches to millions of people all over the country, and Time Warner, the owner of CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., has content galore. Together, the two companies would create a colossus straddling the worlds of internet access, news and entertainment.

Until last week, AT&T’s pending $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner seemed destined to close by the end of the year. On Wednesday, however, tensions between the Justice Department and executives at the two companies spilled out into the open.

Now it seems possible that the Justice Department and AT&T will end up battling each other in court. The ongoing negotiations have also demonstrated how the Trump administration may regulate big-ticket mergers and acquisitions, representing the first major test for the government’s antitrust strategy. Continue reading “Justice Department Says Not So Fast to AT&T’s Time Warner Bid”

y Justice Department plans new project to sue universities over affirmative action policies

The following article by Sari Horwitz and Emma Brown was posted on the Washington Post website August 1, 2017:

The Trump administration is targeting affirmative action policies at universities under a new initiative in the Justice Department. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Justice Department officials are planning a new project to investigate and sue universities over affirmative action admissions policies they determine discriminate against white applicants, according to a U.S. government official.

The project will be based out of the department’s civil rights division, which is now looking for lawyers interested in working on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions,” according to a person familiar with an internal announcement in the civil rights division. Continue reading “y Justice Department plans new project to sue universities over affirmative action policies”

Is Trump Being Investigated? ‘No Comment,’ Justice Dept. Says

The following article by Michael D. Shear and Eric Lichblau was posted on the New York Times website March 9, 2017:

The controversy generated by President Trump’s posts on Twitter about being wiretapped has generated intense scrutiny of every word on the matter. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Trump’s weekend Twitter message asserting that former President Barack Obama had tapped his phones forced the White House into ever more verbal contortions on Thursday as aides struggled to defend the president’s charge.

In the latest iteration, the Justice Department declined to comment on whether Mr. Trump is — or is not — the subject of an investigation. “No comment,” a department official said.

In normal circumstances, a “no comment” from the Justice Department on the status of any investigation would be standard practice. And certainly there has never been any indication that Mr. Trump himself was the target of inquiries by the department and congressional intelligence committees into possible contacts between his associates and members of the Russian government. Continue reading “Is Trump Being Investigated? ‘No Comment,’ Justice Dept. Says”