Department of Justice

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia says he was beaten and subjected to psychological torture in El Salvador jail

Kilmar Abrego Garcia said he suffered severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation and psychological torture in the notorious El Salvador prison the Trump administration had deported him to in March, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/kilmar-abrego-garcia-deportation-mistake-salvadoran-prison-40ce4ab7e93517e018715943afa0464e?

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? Breaking: DOJ purge

Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired more than 20 Justice Department employees who worked on cases involving the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and Donald Trump's handling of classified documents, sources tell Axios' Mark Caputo.

• Why it matters: The firings are part of a massive purge aimed at clearing DOJ of attorneys and support staff who took part in Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump for Jan. 6 and possessing classified documents unlawfully.

The new dismissals bring the total Smith-related firings to about 35.

• About 15 more could face termination.

? Zoom in: Reuters reported last night that nine staffers had been let go, but Axios sources said the number was 20 and as many as 37 people could ultimately be let go from offices in Washington, Virginia, Florida and other parts of the country.

• The 20 ousted Friday included lawyers, support staff and U.S. marshals, one Justice official said.
• The staffers were identified in an internal investigation by Bondi's "Weaponization Working Group," which she established shortly after taking office as part of an effort to purge entrenched political enemies of Trump.

The intrigue: Bondi initially planned for the firings to take place earlier this week.

• But they were delayed as the Trump administration dealt with the internal fallout from its announcement that Jeffrey Epstein didn't have a celebrity "client list," and that his death in his New York City prison cell in 2019 was a suicide, not murder.

? Inside the room: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was also instrumental in initially pumping the brakes on the terminations, sources said, because he wanted to be certain the department was only letting go of staffers who weren't in line with the Trump administration.

• Keep reading.

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⚖️ The Justice Department recommended a one-day sentence for one of the police officers involved in the raid that killed Breonna Taylor. The officer, Brett Hankison, was convicted on civil rights charges for firing his gun 10 times into Taylor's home. Go deeper.

ps:What a Justice Department

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> Justice Department launches strike force to investigate claims by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard of wrongdoing by Obama-era intelligence officials following 2016 election (More) | DOJ meets with Ghislaine Maxwell, former associate of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein (More)

ps:Well this should go nowhere!!!!!

Sanctuary city lawsuit

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against New York City over its so-called “sanctuary city” policies. The move comes just days after the Trump administration blamed those policies for the shooting of an off-duty US Customs and Border Protection officer in an apparent robbery gone wrong. As part of the administration’s widespread crackdown on undocumented immigrants, similar lawsuits have also been filed against Colorado, Illinois, Los Angeles, New York state, the city of Rochester, New York, and several New Jersey cities, the DOJ said in a statement. NYC Mayor Eric Adams said the city will review the lawsuit. “Keeping New Yorkers safe also means making sure they feel safe, and we have been clear: no one should be afraid to dial 911, send their kids to school or go to the hospital, and no New Yorker should feel forced to hide in the shadows,” Adams said in a statement.

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The Justice Department seeks voter and election information from at least 19 states, AP finds

The requests have come in letters, emails and phone calls. The specifics vary, but the target is consistent: The U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up an effort to get voter data and other election information from the states. The unusually expansive outreach has raised alarm among some election officials because states have the constitutional authority to run elections and federal law protects the sharing of individual data with the government. Read more.

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Attorney General Bondi orders prosecutors to start grand jury probe into Obama officials over Russia investigation

Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to launch a grand jury investigation into accusations that members of the Obama administration manufactured intelligence about Russia’s 2016 election interference, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/04/politics/justice-department-russia-grand-jury?

ps:What a joke!!

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Justice Department subpoenas New York attorney general as it investigates whether she violated Trump's rights, AP sources say August 08, 2025 The subpoenas mark an escalation of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to scrutinize perceived adversaries of the president, including those like Attorney General Letitia James, who investigated Trump before his election win last November.

Read more

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Judge denies request to unseal transcripts from grand jury that indicted Ghislaine Maxwell August 11, 2025 A judge in New York on Monday denied a Justice Department request to unseal transcripts from the grand jury that indicted Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend.

Read more

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Justice Department charges five cartel leaders and enforcers, the latest move against major Mexican drug operations

The investigation began years ago after two drug dealers got into a car accident in a small Tennessee town. What followed was a series of secret wiretaps, a shootout with police and the discovery of drugs hidden in a tractor trailer that would eventually lead federal investigators back to cartel leaders in Mexico. Read More.   Attorney General Bondi names DEA head as DC’s ‘emergency police commissioner’ August 14, 2025 Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an directive issued Thursday evening that DEA boss Terry Cole will assume “powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police.” The Metropolitan Police Department “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any orders, Bondi said. Read more

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Epstein’s former girlfriend told Justice Department she did not see Trump act in ‘inappropriate way’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend repeatedly denied to the Justice Department witnessing any sexually inappropriate interactions with Donald Trump, according to records released Friday meant to distance the Republican president from the disgraced financer.

https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-justice-department-interview-transcripts-1d38a010e72b5b58cca944cb3bbb0e6a?

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is freed from Tennessee jail so he can rejoin family in Maryland to await trial

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from jail in Tennessee on Friday so he can rejoin his family in Maryland while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges.

https://apnews.com/article/abrego-garcia-jail-release-deportation-trial-6eb8e95da3bfb7b7ed89dc156702b295?

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US seeks to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he refused plea offer in his smuggling case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Immigration officials said they intend to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he declined an offer to be sent to Costa Rica in exchange for remaining in jail and pleading guilty to human smuggling charges, his defense attorneys told a court Saturday.

https://apnews.com/article/abrego-garcia-deportation-uganda-el-savador-1a94ad82d88ddda56d669ce86bc77ff4?

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed a new federal lawsuit shortly after he surrendered

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys quickly filed a lawsuit to fight those removal efforts until a court has heard his claim for protection, stating that the U.S. could place him in a country where “his safety cannot be assured.” The new lawsuit triggered a blanket court order that automatically pauses deportation efforts for two days. Read more.

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia requests asylum in the US, hoping to prevent his deportation to Uganda

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has come to encapsulate much of President Donald Trump ’s hard-line immigration agenda, wants to seek asylum in the United States, his lawyers told a federal judge Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/kilmar-abrego-garcia-deportation-asylum-62f3d781878a3787ae27d6ea42662dc0?

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Justice Department probes mortgage fraud claims against Lisa Cook of Federal Reserve, AP source says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has begun examining mortgage fraud allegations against Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor who is challenging a Trump administration effort to remove her from her job in a move she says is designed to erode the central bank’s independence.

https://apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-trump-cook-8c81cf9978f5ca33304753e875355a80?

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Justice Department talks about banning transgender gun owners spark fury across political spectrum

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is drawing swift condemnation from gun rights groups and LGBTQ advocates alike after floating that it was considering restricting transgender people from owning guns — a move that would all but certainly face immediate constitutional challenges if ever implemented.

https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-ban-trans-gun-owners-trump-e05b489ad64b80af31e376d6d3ef7dfd?

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Uber lawsuit

The US government sued Uber on Thursday, accusing the ride-sharing company of disability discrimination. In a federal complaint, the Department of Justice said Uber drivers routinely refuse to serve people with disabilities, including riders who travel with service animals or stowable wheelchairs. The DOJ also said Uber and its drivers impose impermissible surcharges by charging cleaning fees for service animals and cancellation fees to riders who are denied service. The suit seeks to bar further alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, changes to Uber's practices, monetary damages and a civil fine. Uber did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Justice Department says it’s suing Oregon and Maine as it seeks voter data in multiple states The Justice Department said Tuesday that it has sued Oregon and Maine for failing to turn over their voter registration lists, marking the first lawsuits the department has brought against states in its wide-ranging effort to get detailed voter data. Read more.

Why this matters: The department said the states were violating federal law by refusing to provide electronic copies of state voter registration lists and information regarding ineligible voters. Oregon and Maine are among at least 26 states that the department has asked for voter registration rolls in recent months, according to an Associated Press tally.   Several states have sent redacted versions of their voter lists that are available to the public, but the Justice Department has on multiple occasions expressly demanded copies that contain personally identifiable information, including voter names, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers.   The Justice Department’s outreach has raised alarm among some election officials because the agency doesn’t have the constitutional authority to run elections. That power is granted to states and Congress. Federal law also protects the sharing of individual data with the federal government.

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Tulsi's blunder

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photos via Getty Images

The Justice Department's criminal probe of ex-spy chief John Brennan hit a big roadblock after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard withdrew the security clearances of potential witnesses who could have testified against him, four Trump administration officials tell Axios' Marc Caputo. Why it matters: The witnesses, officials say, are key to prosecutors' efforts to prove that Brennan inappropriately biased a bombshell 2017 intelligence assessment about Russia favoring Donald Trump, and that he allegedly lied about it to Congress in 2023. ? Axios' sources said there were three problems created by cancelling the security clearances: It could be harder for prosecutors to discuss classified matters with the witnesses. Witnesses would be less willing to cooperate out of anger with the government that besmirched their names. Brennan's defense lawyers could attack their credibility by citing Gabbard's claims they had "betray[ed] their oath to the Constitution" and "abused the public trust." The other side: A senior intelligence official disputed the notion that the case is severely damaged. The official said the witnesses could still testify even after their clearances had been revoked, which happened during the Afghanistan War Commission investigation. Brennan, a former CIA director, has denied wrongdoing. ? Zoom in: The Brennan investigation hit a snag after Gabbard announced last month that she was revoking the security clearances of 37 "current and former intelligence professionals who have abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence" and "leaking classified intelligence without authorization." Many of them were involved in the Russia probe. Nearly a dozen were on the witness list against Brennan — including those who objected in 2017 to putting the discredited "Steele Dossier" in the intelligence report Brennan had quarterbacked. That assessment said Russian President Vladimir Putin had a "clear preference" for Trump in the 2016 election. Friction point: When Gabbard's office canceled the security clearances, it didn't give a heads-up to the Justice Department or David Metcalf, the federal prosecutor in charge of investigating Brennan. "Some of these people are my witnesses and this is going to make it really difficult to prosecute now," Metcalf told a senior administration official, according to a source with direct knowledge of the conversation. "It's a major complication ... a self-inflicted wound," a second official said. "It's an unforced error if you want to talk baseball, an own goal if you want to use soccer." ?️ The big picture: The controversy underscores the ongoing tension between Gabbard's office and other departments as she makes sweeping changes to the intelligence community. Keep reading.

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DOJ rushes to charge Comey

The Justice Department is preparing to ask a grand jury as soon as today to indict former FBI director James Comey on allegations that he lied to Congress as prosecutors approach a legal deadline for bringing charges, AP reports.

• Why it matters: Officials are hoping to file the case in the Eastern District of Virginia days after President Trump appealed to his attorney general to charge Comey and other perceived political adversaries.

Last week, Trump replaced the office's top prosecutor with a White House aide who had served as one of his personal lawyers.

? State of play: Prosecutors have been evaluating whether Comey lied to lawmakers during his September 2020 testimony related to the investigation into ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

• The five-year statute of limitations for bringing a case would be next Tuesday.

Go deeper.

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Paranoid Pam Bondi Raged About Keystone Kash Over Epstein Crisis

The attorney general complained that FBI leadership was “trying to destroy her.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that Kash Patel’s FBI was “trying to destroy her” by leaking information about the battle raging within the Trump administration over the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Bondi has faced months of criticism over the failure to provide new revelations in the case, which White House officials mistakenly thought would blow over quickly, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.

A series of key missteps has helped keep what is arguably President Donald Trump’s most-hated issue squarely in the spotlight, with many of the MAGA faithful blaming Bondi for the fiasco and demanding she be fired.

When Bondi complained to the White House about the criticism, Trump essentially told her to toughen up, according to the Journal. Other officials told her to stop looking at social media and lashing out at the people who were posting.

But Bondi told White House officials that FBI leadership, including Patel, was out to get her and was leaking information about internal disputes. Administration officials who tried to broker peace concluded the situation had gotten out of control because both sides had screwed up, sources told the WSJ.

Bondi downplayed the conflict in a statement to the Journal. “Our only priority is to continue working together with the FBI to make America safer by ensuring murderers and violent criminals face the most severe justice,” she said. Patel and the bureau have “worked tirelessly with my agencies and state partners,” she added.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told the paper that Bondi, Patel, and other officials have been “working together to advance the Trump administration’s goals, mainly putting bad people behind bars.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House, DOJ, and FBI for comment.

Trump officials spent years stoking conspiracy theories around Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Investigators concluded the death was a suicide, but before joining the administration, current officials—including Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino—argued Epstein was murdered to protect his powerful clients.

On the campaign trail, Trump—who was close friends with Epstein for more than a decade—said he would release the Epstein files if he won.

After Trump took office, Bondi blindsided the White House in February by telling Fox News that a client list was on her desk awaiting her review. She also asked the FBI to assemble binders of Epstein materials without saying what the binders were for, then brought the binders to an event with right-wing influencers and handed them out.

When it turned out the material had already been made public, the influencers—and their MAGA followers—were livid.

In July, the DOJ and FBI issued a memo saying the evidence showed Epstein had in fact died by suicide and that no “client list” existed.

Bondi claimed that when she said she had the client list on her desk, what she really meant was that she had files related to Epstein. Patel tried to convince MAGA to drop the issue, insisting that the conspiracy theories he himself had peddled “just aren’t true, never have been.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives is now pushing for the materials’ release. After this week’s special congressional election in Arizona, they have the numbers to override House Speaker Mike Johnson’s effort to block a vote on the matter.

In an interview with the Journal, Ty Cobb, who led the Trump White House’s response to a special counsel probe into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia in 2017, said the Epstein scandal “may be the worst-managed PR event in history.”

“You’ve got multiple mouthpieces, and they’re all covering their own a-- now,” he said.

White House spokesperson Steven Cheung responded by telling the Journal that Cobb had a “debilitating diagnosis of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pam-bondi-fumed-at-keystone-kash-patel-in-secret-maga-civil-war-over-the-epstein-files/?

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Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted after Trump pushes for prosecution of longtime foe

WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

https://apnews.com/article/james-comey-charged-lying-congress-a2c72e1a5bb73d588f3af7fdb56caa82?

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Comey pleads not guilty as lawyers signal intent to argue Trump foe’s case is politically motivated

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a criminal case that has highlighted the Justice Department’s efforts to target adversaries of President Donald Trump, with lawyers for the former FBI director saying they plan to argue the prosecution is politically motivated and should be dismissed.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-comey-justice-department-russia-court-appearance-141a5ada1f3c1018b7a417f2a156673f?

Comey Pleads Not Guilty

Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty yesterday to criminal charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding tied to testimony he gave more than five years ago. The 64-year-old's trial is set for Jan. 5 and is expected to last two to three days.  The plea comes less than two weeks after a federal grand jury indicted Comey over his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020. He allegedly falsely stated "no" when asked if he had ever authorized someone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source about the Trump-Russia investigation to the media (see clip). Prosecutors contend Comey interfered with Congress’ investigation by lying under oath, while Comey's lawyers argue the case is politically motivated. Comey faces five years in prison if convicted. While his case is rare, another former FBI head faced now-dropped charges in the 1970s after the Watergate scandal for allegedly approving illegal break-ins targeting a domestic terror group.

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Bolton pleads not guilty in Justice Department case accusing him of sharing government secrets

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — John Bolton pleaded not guilty Friday to charges accusing the former Trump national security adviser turned critic of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home.

https://apnews.com/article/bolton-justice-department-trump-classified-information-indictment-f3c0bd8036ead827db5178b7a6090b38?

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House candidate Kat Abughazaleh indicted over ICE confrontation

Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh is among a half dozen people the Justice Department has charged for allegedly impeding an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, according to an indictment obtained by Axios.

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/29/kat-abughazaleh-indicted-ice-arrest-democrat?

Justice Department investigating fraud allegations in Black Lives Matter movement, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

https://apnews.com/article/black-lives-matter-fraud-doj-investigation-trump-371e3277ff3b78bc73d3467c4692c66c?

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Justice Department urges judge to reject Comey’s effort to dismiss case The Justice Department urged a federal judge Monday to reject James Comey’s claim that his prosecution amounts to political retribution, arguing the former FBI director has failed to show that he’s being targeted as punishment for his criticism of the Republican president. Read more.

Why this matters: Comey’s lawyers told the judge last month that the charges must be thrown out because they were brought out of “personal spite” at the direction of the president. Prosecutors defended President Donald Trump’s September social media post demanding that action be taken in the Comey investigation, contending it reflects “legitimate prosecutorial motive” and is no basis to dismiss the indictment accusing Comey of lying to Congress in 2020.   The filing underscores how Trump’s comments have put the Justice Department in a difficult position as Comey and other defendants seize on the president’s remarks in efforts to have their cases dismissed ahead of trial. A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James, another Trump foe who’s been charged in a mortgage fraud investigation, has signaled that he will make a similar argument.