Justice Department
US lawmakers request Justice Dept share CBDC assessment
Republican members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee have requested the Department of Justice provide its assessment and legislative proposals regarding a digital dollar within ten days. In an Oct. 5 letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, 11 Republican lawmakers asked the Justice Department for a copy of its “assessment of whether legislative changes would be necessary to issue a CBDC,” as required by President Joe Biden’s executive order on digital assets issued in March. The House members claimed the “appropriate place for the discussion” on legislation concerning a central bank digital currency would be in the U.S. legislative branch rather than the federal executive department. “The House Committee on Financial Services […] has spent considerable ...
U.S. blocks websites linked to Iranian disinformation
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday blocked some three dozen websites, many of them associated with Iranian disinformation activities, a U.S. government source said, adding an official announcement was expected. The source in Washington spoke after notices appeared earlier on Tuesday on a number of Iran-affiliated websites saying they had been seized by the United States government as part of law enforcement action. Iranian news agencies said that the U.S. government had seized several Iranian media websites and sites belonging to groups affiliated with Iran such as Yemen’s Houthi movement. Some sites later started to display as normal. The website of the Arabic-language Masirah TV, which is run by the Houthis, read: “The domain almasirah.net has been seized by the United States Governm...
George Floyd murder: Minneapolis police to face US federal probe
A US federal investigation has been launched into policing practices in the city of Minneapolis, a day after one of its former officers was convicted of the murder of George Floyd. The justice department will look at whether there has been a pattern “of unconstitutional or unlawful policing”, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. It follows national outrage over the killing of Floyd by Derek Chauvin. The former officer was convicted of all charges against him on Tuesday. Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest in May 2020. Floyd, an unarmed African American, was pronounced dead an hour later. His death sparked protests across the US and worldwide, and calls for police reform. Tuesday’s verdict has been widely welcomed in a country where poli...
Report: US says ex-Egypt premier had diplomatic immunity from lawsuit
The Biden administration has said a lawsuit seeking to hold former Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi accountable for alleged involvement in torture against an Egyptian-American activist should be thrown out because he held diplomatic immunity, the Washington Post reported on Monday. In a submission to the US District Court in Washington, DC, shared by the Post, lawyers for the US Justice Department said “El Beblawi held diplomatic status at the time when the suit was commenced” and the court should dismiss “claims falling with the scope of his immunity”. El-Beblawi had served as Egypt’s representative to the International Monetary Fund, but quit and left the US in late October, the Post reported. The department said in its court filing that it was not making any judgements on the me...
US Supreme Court dismisses case on Donald Trump blocking Twitter critics
The U.S. Supreme Court set aside a federal appeals court ruling that former President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked critics from following his Twitter account. The case had already lost its practical impact given Trump’s election defeat and Twitter’s Jan. 8 decision to permanently ban his @realDonaldTrump account for glorifying violence. But the two sides in the case continued to spar over the fate of the appeals court decision. Before Trump left office, the Justice Department asked the justices to wipe away the precedent, while those suing him sought to keep it intact. The appeals court said a social media account run by government officials can become a constitutionally protected “public forum” if used to conduct official business. The Supreme Court has said t...
GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz Paid Prostitutes Via Cash App: Report
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Joe Raedle / Getty Rep. Matt Gaetz is under heavy scrutiny as a Justice Department investigation has uncovered a link between a disgraced politician and the Florida congressman. A new report revealed that former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg paid women for sexual favors and introduced them to Gaetz, who paid them using Cash App and other forms of electronic payments. The New York Times published an early morning report on Friday (April 2) that Greenberg and Gaetz both sought out women online for sex and paid them in various ways and the publication saw some of the text messages and recipients of the money exchanges. Justice Department officials have reason to believe that Greenberg met the women on sites where sex is exchanged for gifts, mo...
NYT: Republican congressman played a role in Donald Trump’s campaign to fight election loss
A Republican U.S. congressman played a role in ex-President Donald Trump’s efforts to oust the top Justice Department official and replace him with a loyalist willing to support efforts to overturn his election defeat, the New York Times reported on Sunday. Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania arranged for Trump to meet Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a Justice Department official who Trump considered naming to replace Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen earlier this month, the newspaper reported. Clark, the Times reported, was sympathetic to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign, and he met with Perry to discuss a plan to have the Justice Department send Georgia a letter disclosing the department would be investigating the election results. Reuters has not independently verified the details of...
US election crimes director resigns after Donald Trump’s attorney general authorises probes
The top federal investigator of election crimes in the US has resigned just hours after Donald Trump’s attorney general William Barr authorised probes into claims of voter fraud. Richard Pilger, director of the election crimes branch of the Department of Justice, stepped down from the post he has held since 2010 on Monday. The branch director, Richard Pilger, handed in his resignation within hours of Barr’s authorization. In an email to colleagues about Barr’s order, Pilger said, “Having familiarized myself with the new policy and its ramifications… I must regretfully resign from my role,” The New York Times reported. US Attorney General William Barr gave federal prosecutors blanket authorization Monday to open investigations into voting irregularities, as President Donald Trump repeated u...
