President Donald Trump has suggested he’s entitled to compensation from the federal government over investigations he faced that he claims were politically motivated. Now, the Justice Department that Trump has exerted control over could approve a hefty payout in taxpayer dollars. The Republican president’s comments in the Oval Office on Tuesday have put a spotlight … Read more
President Donald Trump‘s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to let him move ahead with firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook – a move without precedent since the central bank’s founding in 1913 – in a legal battle that imperils the Fed’s independence. The Justice Department asked the justices to lift U.S. District … Read more
new video loaded: Why the U.S. Brought Back Kilmar Abrego Garcia Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, was flown back to the United States on Friday to face federal criminal charges. Devlin Barrett, who covers the Justice Department, explains the charges and what may come next for Garcia. Recent episodes in … Read more
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday said that federal authorities may once again seek reporters’ phone records and compel their testimony in leak investigations, reversing a Biden administration policy meant to protect journalism from intrusive efforts to identify and prosecute leakers. An internal Justice Department memo from Ms. Bondi said that the change was necessary … Read more
Taking a break from her work dismantling her own department, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon last week threatened roughly $9 billion of grants and contracts with Harvard because of “the school’s failure to protect students on campus from antisemitic discrimination.” As shocking as that threat was, it wasn’t entirely a surprise: Since the Justice Department … Read more
President Trump instructed a broad swath of government agencies on Thursday to end collective bargaining with federal unions, a major escalation in his effort to assert more control over the federal work force. Mr. Trump framed the order as critical to protect national security. But it targets agencies across the government, including the Departments of … Read more
President Trump broadened his campaign of retaliation against lawyers he dislikes with a new memorandum that threatens to use government power to punish any law firms that, in his view, unfairly challenge his administration. The memorandum directs the heads of the Justice and Homeland Security Departments to “seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who … Read more
The government typically has an advantage when defending its policies against legal challenges. Courts generally defer to the executive branch’s factual declarations and formal representations about what is happening and why, rather than probing for what may actually be going on. But the flood of litigation unleashed by the radical opening months of President Trump’s … Read more
Manhattan’s acting U.S. attorney resigned on Thursday after the Justice Department ordered her to drop the corruption case against New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The resignation of the U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, came amid questions about the independence of federal prosecutors under President Trump … Read more
Brian Driscoll, the acting director of the F.B.I., has become an improbable symbol of quiet resistance toward the Justice Department’s campaign to single out F.B.I. employees who investigated the Jan. 6 riot. To start, Mr. Driscoll’s appointment was an accident. Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, the White House identified the wrong agent as acting director … Read more