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The Justice Department, in an 18-page indictment Thursday, charged Vikash Yadav, 39, with three counts of murder-for-hire and money laundering. Federal prosecutors said Yadav was a “senior field officer” for New Delhi. Their New York target was an attorney and political activist who is a U.S. citizen of Indian origin, prosecutors said. Nijjar was also mentioned as a target by Yadav and was an associate of the activist he plotted to assassinate in New York, the Justice Department release said. Yadav was employed by India’s Cabinet secretariat, which also houses the country’s foreign intelligence wing, the Research and Analysis Wing, the Justice Department indictment said.

Persons: Vikash Yadav, Yadav, ”, Nikhil Gupta, Gupta, Yadav “, Christopher Wray, “, Matthew Miller, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Nijjar, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, ” Miller, Prosecutors, Narendra Modi’s, Matthew G, Olsen Organizations: DELHI, The Justice Department, New Delhi, FBI, U.S, Department, Indian Government, ”, ., The, DOJ, Associated Press, AP India, “, State Department, U.S ., Research, Embassy, India’s Ministry, Affairs, Drug Enforcement Administration, Indian, Justice Department’s National Security Division Locations: U.S, New York City, New, India, York, Czech Republic, Washington, Canada, Nijjar, New York, Indian, “ Canada, New Delhi, United States

☆ Prosecutors say neo-Nazi ‘murder cult’ leader plotted to give poison candy to Jewish kids in NYC
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old man from the Republic of Georgia, was indicted on four charges, including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice. In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a “mass casualty event” for New York City on New Year’s Eve, prosecutors said. “The scheme involved an individual dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to racial minorities and children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn,” the Department of Justice statement said. He “drafted step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme” and shared with the undercover officer “detailed manuals on creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases,” the statement said. “For example, and among other things, the handbook encourages its readers to commit school shootings and to use children to perpetrate suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities,” the Justice Department statement said.

Persons: Santa Claus, Michail, Chkhikvishvili, Butcher, ‘, ’, Matthew G, Olsen, Breon, Robert R, Wells, Eve, “, Prosecutors, ” Chkhikvishvili Organizations: Nazi, US Department of Justice, Justice Department’s National Security Division, Eastern, of, FBI’s National Security Branch, New York, Jewish, Department of Locations: Europe, New York City, Republic of Georgia, Nazi, of New York, New, Brooklyn, United States

☆ A Wish From All Sides to Move On Ends With Liberty for Assange
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As negotiations to end the long legal brawl between Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, and the United States reached a critical point this spring, prosecutors presented his lawyers with a choice so madcap that a person involved thought it sounded like a line from a Monty Python movie. His path to freedom, he was told, would pass through one of the two American-held islands in the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Assange, who feared being imprisoned for the rest of his life in the United States, had long insisted on one condition for any plea deal: that he never set foot in the country. The U.S. government, in turn, had demanded that Mr. Assange plead guilty to a felony for violating the Espionage Act, which required him to appear before a federal judge. In April, a lawyer with the Justice Department’s national security division broke the impasse with a sly workaround: How about an American courtroom that wasn’t actually inside mainland America?

Persons: Julian Assange, Monty, Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks, Justice Department’s Locations: United, Guam, Saipan, United States, U.S, America

☆ Air Force employee accused of sharing classified information on foreign dating website
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An Air Force employee has been charged with sharing classified information on a foreign dating website after prosecutors say he sent sensitive information about Russia’s war in Ukraine to a person who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine. Slater then sent this classified information to someone who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine, according to an indictment. Successfully?”The co-conspirator sent messages for nearly two months, according to the indictment, repeatedly probing Slater for more classified information. Slater faces one count of conspiracy to disclose national defense information and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. Before working as a civilian in the Air Force, prosecutors say Slater rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army, retiring at the end of 2020.

Persons: David Franklin Slater, Slater, ”, Dave ”, Slater’s, “, Slater “, Matthew G, Olsen, Eugene Kowel Organizations: CNN, An Air Force, Prosecutors, Strategic Command, Justice Department, Operations Center, Air Force, Army, Justice Department’s National Security Division, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha Field Office Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Nebraska, Omaha

☆ Biden officials confront limits of federal response in exercise preparing for 2024 election threats
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Carolyn Kaster/AP/FileUS national security officials have to weigh whether publicly calling attention to disinformation might inadvertently amplify the very message they’re trying to bat down. In both scenarios, federal officials favored a muted public response, largely choosing to let state and local governments take the lead. State and local officials run elections and are more trusted voices in their communities, but how can federal officials act decisively to support them? “It’s a trick box,” said Adam Hickey, who worked on election security issues for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “[W]e prioritize tabletop exercises that integrate the range of cyber, physical, and operational threats election officials may encounter,” Conley said in a statement to CNN.

Persons: “, ”, —, Carolyn Kaster, there’s, Biden, Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Joe Biden, deepfakes, ” Sen, Mark Warner, Kevin Dietsch, Francisco Aguilar, ” Aguilar, Donald Trump’s, Adam Hickey, Hickey, Cait Conley, DHS’s, ” Conley, –, ” CNN’s Evan Perez, Natasha Bertrand, Donie O’Sullivan, Katie Bo Lillis Organizations: Washington CNN, CNN, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, Biden White, Jeffersonville Masonic, New Hampshire, Foreign Ministry, ”, Senate, Committee, White, Senate Intelligence, Virginia Democrat, Republican, Trump, Capitol, Justice Department’s National Security, “, Justice Department, Department of Homeland, National Security Council, US Army, DHS’s Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency Locations: China, Jeffersonville, Jeffersonville , Ohio, American, Woodside , California, Nevada, Russia, Iran, Russian, Iranian

☆ Menendez Indictment Appears to Undercut Claims of ‘Two-Tiered System’ of Justice
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Wednesday, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee repeatedly accused Attorney General Merrick B. Garland of singling out former President Donald J. Trump for selective prosecution, slamming him for what they call a “two-tiered system” of justice. Forty-eight hours later, the Justice Department indicted one of the most powerful Democrats in the Senate — Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee — on bribery charges, making public a trove of evidence, including cash and gold bars stashed at his house. The department’s aggressive pursuit of Mr. Menendez appeared to undercut claims that Mr. Trump is the victim of pervasive political bias that targets leaders on the right while shielding transgressors on the left. The entanglement of electoral politics and law enforcement is becoming the norm, and the prosecution of a top Democrat up for re-election in 2024 has political as well as legal reverberations. And the indictment, brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan with limited participation from the Justice Department’s national security division in Washington, comes at a politically opportune moment for the besieged department.

Persons: Merrick B, Garland, Donald J, Trump, Bob Menendez, Menendez Organizations: Justice Department, Bob Menendez of New, Foreign Relations, Justice Department’s Locations: House, Bob Menendez of, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Manhattan, Washington

☆ Hearing on handling classified materials in Jack Smith’s Trump case could set up clash over delay
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Trump himself is not expected to attend to the hearing, but Nauta – who is a bodyman to the former president – may attend, sources told CNN. In addition to the trial date, Trump and Nauta’s defense attorneys have already clashed with the Justice Department on timing of even initial procedural steps in the case. Tuesday’s hearing is aimed at discussing the schedule for those issues to be briefed and are usually “uneventful” affairs, Gonzalez said. “In sum, neither the amount of classified discovery in this case nor the timetable for its production is a reason for an indefinite continuance of the trial date,” the prosecutors said. In the case, Trump is facing several counts of willful retention of national defense information.

Persons: Jack Smith’s, Donald Trump, Smith, Aileen Cannon, Trump, CIPA, Walt Nauta, Nauta, –, Cannon, “, haven’t, ”, Brandon Van Grack, Robert Mueller’s, Van Grack, Brian Greer, Gregory Gonzalez, Gonzalez, ” Gonzalez, that’s, ” Greer Organizations: CNN, Trump, Justice Department, CIA, Congress, Justice Department’s National Security Division, Prosecutors, DOJ, Government Locations: Russian, Florida

During his arraignment, Mr. Trump is expected to be advised of his rights, and a judge will assess whether he has legal representation. The case against Mr. Trump is the second criminal prosecution against the former president this year. Mr. Trump was already arraigned in April in a New York courthouse on state charges that he falsified business records. In the case that has brought him to Miami, Mr. Trump has been charged with 37 counts of unauthorized retention of national security information. After the court appearance, Mr. Trump is expected to fly to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., to give remarks defending himself in the evening.

Persons: Wilkie, Ferguson Jr, Donald J, Trump, Francis X, Suarez, Mr, We’re, James, John Rowley —, Todd Blanche, Christopher M, Jay I, Bratt, Julie Edelstein, Manny Morales, Morales, “, ”, that’s, ” Adam Goldman, Alan Feuer, Charlie Savage Organizations: Mr, Trump, Suarez of Miami, Republican, United States Supreme, Justice Department’s, Trump National Golf Club, Capitol, Miami police Locations: Miami, United States, New York, Florida, Bedminster, N.J, MIAMI

It allows Pence to offer an additional contrast between himself and former President Donald Trump, his political rival who’s under serious investigation by the Justice Department and others. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department’s National Security Division have conducted an investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information,” the Justice Department wrote to Pence’s attorney. The Justice Department is still investigating the handling of classified records by Trump and Biden. Two months after Smith’s appointment, Garland appointed special counsel Robert Hur in January following reports that classified documents were found at Biden’s home and former private office. Biden’s team says that when the classified documents were first discovered last fall, they immediately notified the National Archives, which then informed the Justice Department.

Persons: Mike Pence’s, Pence’s, Pence, Donald Trump, “, ”, Joe Biden’s, General Merrick Garland, Trump, Jack Smith’s, Garland, Smith, Robert Hur, Hur, Biden’s Organizations: CNN, The Justice, Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department’s National Security Division, FBI, Justice Department’s National Security Division, Justice, Trump, Biden, DOJ, National Archives, Lago Locations: Pence’s Indiana, Delaware, Lago, Iran

☆ Pence Won’t Face Charges in Documents Inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Maggie Haberman | Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department has declined to pursue charges against former Vice President Mike Pence in connection with his retention of classified documents at his home in Indiana, informing him in a brief letter on Thursday night, according to three people familiar with the situation. Word that the case would be closed came days before Mr. Pence was set to announce his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in Iowa. and the Justice Department’s national security division conducted an investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, the department wrote to Mr. Pence’s lawyer, according to a person who had read the letter. Based on the results of that investigation, “no criminal charges will be sought,” according to that person. In January, a lawyer for Mr. Pence searched the former vice president’s house for documents after aides to President Biden discovered a trove of sensitive material at an office he had once occupied in Delaware.

Persons: Mike Pence, Pence, Pence’s, “, Biden Organizations: Republican, Justice Department’s Locations: Indiana, Iowa, Delaware

☆ F.B.I. Violated Surveillance Program Rules After George Floyd Protests and Jan. 6 Attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The total number of queries for Americans — and the frequency of compliance incidents — appears to have dropped as a result. Among other things, an intelligence community report last month said that the F.B.I. While Congress did so in 2012 and 2018, the program faces stronger headwinds this cycle, as Republicans who have adopted former President Donald J. Trump’s hostility toward the F.B.I. and surveillance have joined with civil libertarians who have long been critical of the law. Against that backdrop, privacy advocates have revived a proposal to require the government to obtain a warrant from the surveillance court before it may query the Section 702 repository using an American’s identifiers.

☆ Justice Department files criminal charges in cases of American tech stolen for Russia, China and Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Justice Department announced on Tuesday five criminal cases against people accused of stealing or illegally diverting American technology and materials for the Russian, Chinese and Iranian governments. The man, Xiangjiang Qiao, is at large in China, according to the Justice Department. “These charges demonstrate the Justice Department’s commitment to preventing sensitive technology from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran,” said Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s national security division. In New York, a Greek national is charged with allegedly acquiring more than 10 different types of sensitive technologies on behalf of the Russian government. The man, Dr. Nikolaos “Nikos” Bogonikolos, was arrested in Paris last week and the US will move for his extradition, the Justice Department said.

Companies Binance Holdings Ltd FollowMay 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Binance Holdings was illegally used to let Russians skirt U.S. sanctions and move money through the cryptocurrency exchange, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Regulators globally have long called for tighter controls on crypto exchanges including Binance, the world's largest, to prevent illegal activities - from money laundering to the financing of terrorism. The recent seizures by Israel's NBCTF also highlight how governments are targeting crypto companies in their efforts to prevent illegal activity. Binance and the DoJ did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ DOJ launches new effort to target corporate sanctions evasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a new effort by the Justice Department on Thursday to target corporate sanctions evasion and other financial crimes that implicate national security. “To address the increasing intersection of corporate crime and national security, the Department is today announcing significant restructuring and resource commitments within the National Security Division,” Monaco at the American Bar Association National Institute on White Collar Crime Thursday. “Companies are on the front lines of today’s geopolitical and national security challenges,” she said. “Increasingly, corporate criminal investigations carry profound national security implications.”As part of that effort, Monaco said, the Justice Department’s National Security Division will hire more than 25 new prosecutors to investigate “sanctions evasion, export control violations, and similar economic crimes.” Monaco said. The Justice Department has brought several sanctions violations cases in the past year.

☆ The Paradox of Prosecuting Domestic Terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( James Verini | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +52 min

The preventive approach to domestic terrorism goes back even further than the 1990s and it begins with the basic police work and surveillance of the joint terrorism task forces. In fact, there is no section of the U.S. Criminal Code that criminalizes domestic terrorism as such. The absence of clear law around domestic terrorism, and the imperatives of prevention, mean that investigators and prosecutors who work domestic terrorism cases must focus on more common charges: weapons violations, illegal drug possession, burglary, aiding and abetting and so forth. But this was not enough to overrule the fear of domestic terrorism that was gripping the nation and that hung in the courtroom. It reflected the legal paradoxes of the case and domestic terrorism law in general or, maybe more accurately, the absence of it.

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