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☆ Merrick Garland Is a Huge Taylor Swift Fan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sadie Gurman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON – At a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, senators grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland on the Justice Department’s investigation into Ticketmaster, which botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s coming tour and is dominant in the concert industry. “Channeling Taylor Swift, I know that ‘All Too Well,’” Mr. Garland said, name-dropping the title of one of her songs. “I’m pretty familiar with Taylor Swift.”

☆ As the Department of Justice reportedly investigates Ticketmaster amidst Taylor Swift ticket chaos, Attorney General Merrick Garland reveals he's a huge Swiftie
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Taylor Swift fans apparently have one of their own in the Department of Justice: Attorney General Merrick Garland. The Wall Street Journal reports he's a die-hard Swiftie after Garland made Swift references in Senate testimony. Even before ticketing chaos for Swift's Eras Tour, the DOJ was reportedly investigating Ticketmaster. He plunged head first into Swiftie-dom with both her debut album and "Fearless," which his two daughters would play when he drove them to school, Garland told the Journal. "My daughter sent me Midnights right away as a CD, which I appreciate is a little prehistoric at this point," Garland told the Wall Street Journal.

☆ Ted Cruz shouts over Merrick Garland about the DOJ's response to protests outside Supreme Court justices' homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Ted Cruz pressed AG Merrick Garland over the DOJ's response to protests outside Supreme Court justices' homes. Cruz accused Garland and the DOJ of being politically biased. The Texas Republican condemned the protestors as rioters and extremists organizing harassment campaigns against the justices and accused Garland of inaction. Other Republicans on the committee, including Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, similarly raised concerns about DOJ's handling of the protests outside Supreme Court justices' homes last year. "It's very clear that they're trying to influence in one way or another those serving on the United States Supreme Court," Lee said.

BOSTON, March 1 (Reuters) - Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins has hired a former Justice Department inspector general to defend her in a widening ethics investigation into her appearance at a political fundraiser and her travel. The controversy has threatened to undermine Attorney General Merrick Garland’s vow to protect the Justice Department from partisan influence and efforts to extend progressive criminal justice policies championed by Rollins to the federal level. It is unclear what the inspector general's probe will find or when it will be completed. James Borghesani, a spokesman for Hayden, said they have received no inquiries from the inspector general's office. Investigators are also looking at Rollins' use of a personal cellphone, rather than her government-issued one, for Justice Department business, said two other people familiar with the matter.

☆ Biden Administration Urges Congress to Renew Spy Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a letter with Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, said the law protects the U.S. from foreign-based cyberattacks and arms traffickers. WASHINGTON—Top Biden administration officials urged Congress to renew an expiring surveillance law they say is vital to addressing a range of national security threats, launching what is expected to be a difficult campaign to persuade lawmakers to not curtail spying powers. In a letter to Tuesday to congressional leadership, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the law, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, protects the U.S. from foreign-based cyberattacks and arms traffickers and yields intelligence to address challenges posed by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

☆ U.S. prosecutors seize properties, charge Russian on Ukraine invasion anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday said they were seeking to forfeit six properties in New York and Florida allegedly belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and separately charged a Russian national with illegally exporting counterintelligence equipment. The announcements came on the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation." The Department of Justice has sought to use asset seizures and criminal charges to squeeze business executives aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin to press him to stop the war. Two of the properties - an apartment on Park Avenue in Manhattan and an estate in Southampton, New York - had been searched by FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents last year. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Merrick Garland's stonewalling about multiple investigations is annoying lawmakers on both sides of aisle ahead of his Capitol Hill visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Warren Rojas | Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want Merrick Garland to debrief them about DOJ investigations. Garland is scheduled to join the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 1 for a general oversight hearing — his first of the 118th Congress. In early February, both Durbin and his Republican counterparts leading the House Judiciary Committee requested briefings about McGonigal. The Senate letter requested information from Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray; the House letter was addressed to Wray but not Garland. "Everything is on the table," a staff member from House Judiciary told Insider.

☆ Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump subpoenaed in Capitol attack probe, NYT reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump have been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith to testify before a federal grand jury regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November last year to take over two investigations involving Trump, who is running for president in 2024. The first probe involves Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. Grand juries in Washington have been hearing testimony in recent months for both investigations from former top Trump administration officials. Ivanka Trump could not immediately be reached for comment.

Law-enforcement officials including Attorney General Merrick Garland, speaking, and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco have been dedicating resources to thwarting cyberattacks. Extortion payments from ransomware, a hacking scourge that has crippled hospitals, schools and public infrastructure, fell significantly last year, according to federal officials, cybersecurity analysts and blockchain firms. After ballooning for years, the amount of money being paid to ransomware criminals dropped in 2022, as did the odds that a victim would pay the criminals who installed the ransomware. With ransomware, hackers lock up a victim’s computer network, encrypting hard drives until victims pay.

Merrick Garland has said that he has grown concerned about what he described as arbitrariness in the application of capital punishment. WASHINGTON—More than a year after halting federal executions, Attorney General Merrick Garland is authorizing prosecutors to seek the death penalty in some brutal cases while withdrawing it in many others, drilling down on the circumstances surrounding even the most heinous crimes before making the final call. The approach has effectively raised the bar for the federal government’s use of the ultimate punishment after a flurry of executions during the Trump administration.

☆ Former Trump Chief of Staff Meadows subpoenaed in Capitol attack probe -CNN
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows greets supporters in front of senior aide Cassidy Hutchinson during a presidential campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Newtown, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File PhotoFeb 15 (Reuters) - Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff to ex-U.S. President Donald Trump, has been subpoenaed as part of a probe by Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter. Smith's office wants documents and testimony related to Jan. 6, and Meadows received the subpoena in January, the report added. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November last year to take over two investigations involving Trump, who is running for president in 2024. Reporting by Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Biden's private lawyer disclosed on Saturday that DOJ officials turned up classified documents related both to Biden's vice presidency and even his time in the US Senate. Garland's swift announcement came after earlier news that a second batch of classified documents was found on Biden's property. Here, a timeline lays out Biden's involvement with the classified documents — and how it sometimes overlapped with the turmoil around Trump's classified documents probe. January 14: White House says more classified documents were found in Biden's homeAdditional pages of classified documents were found in Biden's Wilmington home in a storage room next to the garage, The New York Times reported. January 21: DOJ finds 6 more pages of classified documents in Biden's homeFederal investigators searched Biden's Wilmington home on Friday and found half a dozen classified documents, according to Biden's personal attorney, Bob Bauer.

☆ The DOJ will brief lawmakers on the classified documents recovered from Trump and Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The DOJ will brief some lawmakers on the nature of the classified records recovered from Trump and Biden. The DOJ has so far resisted bipartisan calls from lawmakers to get access to the documents themselves. FBI personnel swept Biden's properties at least three times as part of its investigation into his handling of classified documents. The documents were turned over to the Archives shortly after, and the FBI also searched the office in mid-November and began assessing whether classified documents had been mishandled. Trump, meanwhile, is facing his own criminal investigation after the FBI executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago property last August and recovered troves of classified documents that Trump had resisted turning over to the government.

☆ Trump, after reported subpoena, defends keeping classified folders
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Susan Heavey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he kept folders with classified markings at his resort but they were empty. The reported subpoena and newly turned-over material comes amid scrutiny over the handling of presidential and vice presidential materials -- particularly classified records -- that has made Trump the subject of a federal criminal investigation. Biden's documents date to his time as former President Barack Obama's vice president. Trump resisted efforts to have documents in his possession returned, and the FBI in August conducted a court-approved search of Trump's Florida property. Trump said folders found at his Florida estate "were merely inexpensive and very common folders with ... 'Presidential Reading,' 'Confidential,' 'Classified,' or other words stamped on the front cover" but were empty.

In addition to locating one page with classified markings, the FBI also recovered "six additional pages without such markings that were not discovered in the initial review by the vice president's counsel," he added. The search of Pence's home comes as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden face investigations by two special counsels over the retention of classified records. The FBI conducted a court-approved search of Trump's Florida estate on Aug. 8, where they collected about 13,000 records, about 100 of which contained classified markings. Biden had an office there after he served as vice president under Barack Obama and before his presidential election. Since then, additional records were also found at Biden's residence in Wilmington.

☆ FBI searching Pence's home in classified documents probe -Justice Dept official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The FBI on Friday conducted a consensual search at the Indianapolis residence of former Vice President Mike Pence, after classified documents were discovered at his house last month, a Justice Department official told Reuters. The search comes just a few weeks after Pence's attorney Greg Jacobs notified the National Archives in a Jan. 18 letter about the discovery of records with classified markings. The search of Pence's home comes as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden face investigations by two special counsels over the retention of classified records. Biden had an office there after he served as vice president under Barack Obama and before his presidential election. A third search of Biden's Delaware beach home earlier this month did not find any additional documents.

[1/2] Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2022. Pence was issued a subpoena by special counsel Jack Smith, though the nature of the request was not immediately known, ABC News reported, citing sources. The first probe involves Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. Last month, Garland named a separate special counsel, Robert Hur, to probe the improper storage of classified documents at President Biden's home and former office. In late January, Pence said he was not aware though he takes "full responsibility" after classified documents were found at his Indiana home.

Former VP Mike Pence was subpoenaed by the Department of Justice on Thursday, per ABC News and CNN. DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is focused on Trump investigations, sent the notice, per reports. CNN reported that the subpoena was tied to the DOJ's investigation into the January 6 insurrection. According to a new report by ABC News, which cited multiple unnamed sources, Pence was subpoenaed after negotiations between federal officials and his legal team. Jack Smith, the DOJ's special counsel, has been leading investigations into Trump since November 2022, when Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned him to lead probes into attempts to overturn the 2020 election and Trump's mishandling of classified documents.

☆ Former VP Mike Pence subpoenaed by Trump special counsel in criminal probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Vice President Mike Pence has been issued a subpoena by the special counsel overseeing criminal investigations of ex-President Donald Trump, one of which is focused on Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, NBC News confirmed Thursday evening. Pence did not agree with Trump's request when he presided over a joint session of Congress that confirmed Biden's victory. ABC News first reported that special counsel Jack Smith had subpoenaed Pence. ABC also reported that the subpoena was issued after months of negotiations between federal prosecutors and Pence's legal team. Smith was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland after Trump declared his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

The morning search by FBI agents appeared to represent an expansion of the probe into Biden's handling of classified documents. The White House counsel's office did not have representatives present at the search, White House spokesperson Ian Sams told reporters. Classified documents have also been found in the home of Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, giving some political cover to Biden. Trump resisted efforts to return materials in his possession, prompting a FBI search of his Florida home and resort last year. It is unlawful to knowingly or willfully remove or retain classified material, although no current or former president or vice president has been charged with wrongdoing.

☆ Biden cooperating with federal search for classified documents at Delaware beach house -statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a planned search of Joe Biden's Delaware beach house with the president's cooperation, his lawyer said on Wednesday. "We agreed to cooperate," Biden's personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, said in a statement, saying more information would be released after the search was concluded. Classified documents have also been found in the homes of former Republican President Donald Trump and his former vice president, Mike Pence. Biden has vowed to cooperate with the searches and Pence had said he takes responsibility for the found documents. It is unlawful to knowingly or willfully remove or retain classified material, although no current or former president or vice president has been charged with wrongdoing.

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department was searching President Joe Biden's second home, a beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, on Wednesday as part of its investigation into improper storage of classified materials from his time as vice president. The search by FBI agents appears to represent an expansion of the probe into Biden's handling of classified documents. It has stripped him and fellow Democrats of a weapon against former President Donald Trump, who also had classified documents found at his home. Classified documents have also been found in the home of Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, giving some political cover to Biden. It is unlawful to knowingly or willfully remove or retain classified material, although no current or former president or vice president has been charged with wrongdoing.

☆ FBI searched Biden think tank office after classified documents were found last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

FBI agents searched the office President Joe Biden used after his vice presidency in Washington, D.C., in mid-November after his lawyers first discovered classified documents there earlier that month, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. Biden's personal lawyers said Justice Department investigators found more than half a dozen additional documents, some marked classified, in the search. The documents discovered range from his Senate tenure to his time as vice president under former President Barack Obama. Former President Donald Trump is also facing a special counsel investigation for failing to turn over classified documents. Last week, it was also reported that Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, also had classified documents in his home in Indiana.

☆ U.S. watchdog identifies $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 loans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. government likely awarded about $5.4 billion in COVID-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers, a federal watchdog said in a report released on Monday. The watchdog, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), said it "identified 69,323 questionable Social Security Numbers (SSNs) used to obtain $5.4 billion from the Small Business Administration's (SBA) COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID-19 EIDL) program and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)." In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland launched a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force. In September, the inspector general for the U.S. Labor Department said fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from the United States' unemployment insurance program during the coronavirus outbreak by applying tactics like using Social Security numbers of deceased individuals. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sen. Marco Rubio says it's 'absurd' that the media has details on the classified documents found at Biden's and Trump's residences but the intelligence committee still doesn't have clear information
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Senate Intelligence Committee members said they don't have a timeline as to when they'll obtain Biden's and Trump's classified documents. Classified documents were found at both Trump and Biden's private residences over the past several months. Sen. Marco Rubio told CBS it is "absurd" that the press had more info on the vague contents of the documents. In August of 2022, the FBI raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and seized 11 sets of classified information, including some that were marked top secret. In November, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump's handling of classified documents.

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