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Hunter Biden, President Biden’s troubled son and the target of long-running Republican efforts to cast the first family as corrupt, is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday in federal court to two misdemeanor tax charges and accept an agreement that will allow him to avoid prosecution on a gun charge. If approved by a judge, the deal, reached by lawyers for the younger Mr. Biden with the U.S. attorney in Delaware, David C. Weiss, a Trump appointee who was kept on by the Biden Justice Department to complete the investigation, would result in no prison time. Republicans have assailed the plea deal as far too lenient. Citing the congressional testimony of two I.R.S. agents who were involved in the federal investigation, House Republicans have suggested that the Justice Department meddled in the case by failing to give Mr. Weiss the full authority over the investigation that it had promised him — an assertion that Mr. Weiss and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland have rebutted.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden’s, Biden, David C, Weiss, Harris, —, Justice Department meddled, General Merrick B, Garland Organizations: U.S, Trump, Biden Justice Department, Court, Biden, Republicans, Justice Department Locations: Delaware, Wilmington —

Mr. Biden paid the overdue tax bill in 2021. Mr. Weiss’s office has also charged Mr. Biden in connection with the purchase of a handgun in 2018, when Mr. Biden falsely said on a government form that he was not using drugs. But as part of the deal, the Justice Department, under what is known as a pretrial diversion agreement, said it would not prosecute Mr. Biden on the charge as long as Mr. Biden no longer owns a weapon and remains drug free for two years. As president, Mr. Trump, realizing that Mr. Biden was the candidate with the best chance to beat him in 2020, tried to weaponize Hunter Biden’s business dealings against his father. At the height of the 2020 election, Mr. Giuliani and other Trump confidants believed they had an October surprise that would catapult Mr. Trump to re-election when they obtained a cache of files from Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden’s, Biden, David C, Weiss, Harris, —, Justice Department meddled, General Merrick B, Garland, Maryellen Noreika, Donald J, Trump, Hunter, Trump’s, Christopher Clark, Mr, Beau, Clark, Obama, Rudolph W, Giuliani Organizations: U.S, Trump, Biden Justice Department, Court, Biden, Republicans, Justice Department, Republican, Obama Locations: Delaware, Wilmington —, Ukraine, Ukrainian

Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing criminal investigations into former President Donald J. Trump, employs 40 to 60 career prosecutors, paralegals and support staff, augmented by a rotating cast of F.B.I. agents and technical specialists, according to people familiar with the situation. In his first four months on the job, starting in November, Mr. Smith’s investigation incurred expenses of $9.2 million. Marshals Service to protect Mr. Smith, his family and other investigators who have faced threats after the former president and his allies singled them out on social media. At this rate, the special counsel is on track to spend about $25 million a year.

Persons: Jack Smith, Donald J, Trump, Smith Organizations: Mr, U.S . Marshals Service

☆ Donald Trump Faces a Possible Jan. 6 Indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald Trump received a letter informing him that he was a target of the special counsel’s investigation into his role in the events surrounding the Capitol riot. The letter is a signal that Trump is likely to be indicted on federal criminal charges relating to his attempts to retain power after the 2020 election. It is not clear what charges the prosecutors are considering or when indictments may arise. But when the special counsel, Jack Smith, sent a similar letter last month relating to Trump’s handling of national defense material, the former president was charged with 37 criminal counts within days. Prosecutors have also sought information about Trump’s post-election fund-raising.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Jack Smith, Glenn Thrush, ” Glenn, “, Smith, ”, Biden Organizations: Trump, Prosecutors

At least two grand juries in Washington have been hearing matters related to Mr. Trump’s efforts to stay in office. Two of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Christopher M. Kise, briefly mentioned the new target letter at a pretrial hearing in Florida on Tuesday on the documents case. In disclosing that he had received the target letter, Mr. Trump said he was given four days to testify before a grand jury if he chooses. Fani T. Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., who has pressed ahead with her own investigation of Mr. Trump and his allies, could bring charges as early as next month. If she were to proceed first, that could complicate Mr. Smith’s case.

Persons: Todd Blanche, Christopher M, Kise, Blanche, Trump, Willis, Smith Organizations: Court Locations: Washington, Trump, Fort Pierce, Fla, Florida, Fulton County ,

Weeks later, Mr. Trump is the former President Trump. Instead, in a brief televised address shortly before 2:30 a.m., Mr. Trump furiously laid down his postelection lie. For weeks, Mr. Trump had been peppering him with tips of fraud that, upon investigation by federal authorities, proved baseless. The cavalry “is coming, Mr. President,” Kylie Kremer tweeted to Mr. Trump on Dec. 19. On Jan. 15, Mr. Trump acquiesced to an Oval Office meeting with Mr. Lindell, who arrived with two sets of documents.

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Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. Mr. Wray, who is appearing for the first time before the House Judiciary Committee since Republicans won the House, is likely girding for the worst. The committee, led by Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, says it “will examine the politicization” of the F.B.I. under Mr. Wray and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. That criticism was once trained on the bureau’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia during the 2016 election.

Persons: Christopher A, Wray, Donald J, Trump, Jim Jordan, General Merrick B, Garland, Stoked, Department’s, Hunter Biden Organizations: Republicans, Committee, Republican, Trump Locations: Ohio, Russia, Lago

☆ The G.O.P. Backed Him on Hunter Biden Claims. Now He Has Been Indicted.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Luft has denied any wrongdoing, and claims he only became a subject of Justice Department scrutiny after discussing the Hunter Biden investigation with prosecutors who met with him in Belgium in 2019. But prosecutors painted a portrait of Mr. Luft, who split his time between Israel and Washington, as an unscrupulous political fixer working for China who made much of his cash as a back-channel arms and oil broker. He told an associate that the unwillingness of U.S. officials to sell weapons to Kenya provided them with an “opportunity” for profit, prosecutors said. In one instance, Mr. Luft received a letter telling him explicitly that a shipment of the oil was Iranian but that it should be “be presented as U.A.E. origin without Iranian papers,” according to the filing.

Persons: Luft, Hunter Biden, Mr Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Institute, Global Security, Justice Department Locations: Belgium, Israel, Washington, China, Libya, Kenya, Iran, Gaithersburg, Md, Beijing

☆ Prosecutor Rebuts I.R.S. Official’s Account of Request in Hunter Biden Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

official, Gary Shapley, who said Mr. Weiss had sought that status and been turned down. Mr. Weiss suggested that Mr. Shapley might have misunderstood him during an October 2022 meeting. Deputizing a federal prosecutor as a special attorney is distinct from making one a special counsel. The special attorney provision is, in essence, a workaround that allows an outsider to intervene in cases that span multiple jurisdictions or have special conditions. The special counsel regulations, by contrast, contain internal Justice Department reporting requirements and congressional oversight provisions.

Persons: David C, Weiss, Hunter Biden, Gary Shapley, Shapley, Donald J, Trump, Deputizing Organizations: Internal Revenue Service, Department Locations: Delaware, U.S

☆ Nassar Is Said to Have Been Stabbed Multiple Times in Florida Prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a scathing 2021 report, the inspector general for the Justice Department found that the F.B.I. initially botched the investigation, allowing Mr. Nassar to assault more young women. Mr. Nassar was convicted on federal charges in 2017. A federal judge ordered that sentence to run concurrently and remanded him to federal custody. Last year, 13 female athletes who were sexually assaulted by Mr. Nassar each sought $10 million from the F.B.I., claiming agents mishandled the investigation, allowing him to continue abusing more victims.

Persons: Nassar, Theodore J . Kaczynski, James Bulger, Whitey, Jeffrey Epstein Organizations: Justice Department, Federal, of Prisons Locations: Michigan, North Carolina, Boston, West Virginia, Manhattan

The U.S. attorney in Delaware denied retaliating against an I.R.S. official who had disclosed details of the Hunter Biden investigation, and denied being blocked from pursuing serious charges against Mr. Biden, the president’s son, in Los Angeles and Washington. David C. Weiss, an appointee of former President Donald J. Trump held over by the Biden administration, defended the integrity of his investigation in a two-page letter sent to House Republicans late Friday, in which he provided the most detailed explanation yet of the five-year probe that culminated in a plea agreement last month that would rule out prison time for Mr. Biden, who was facing misdemeanor tax charges and a separate gun charge. The Department of Justice “did not retaliate” against Gary Shapley, who claims Mr. Weiss helped block a promotion he had sought after reaching out to congressional investigators, Mr. Weiss wrote in the letter to Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Mr. Weiss went on to address, in hypothetical terms, the core of Mr. Shapley’s allegations: that Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys in California and Washington had blocked Mr. Weiss from prosecuting Hunter Biden on felony tax charges during a period when the president’s youngest son was earning millions representing foreign-controlled businesses.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Mr, Biden, David C, Weiss, Donald J, Trump, Justice “, Gary Shapley, Jim Jordan of Organizations: House Republicans, Justice Locations: Delaware, Los Angeles, Washington, Jim Jordan of Ohio, California

☆ Competing Accounts of Justice Dept.’s Handling of Hunter Biden Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Michael S. Schmidt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At a Senate hearing in March, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, spent seven minutes grilling Attorney General Merrick B. Garland about the Hunter Biden investigation, reading a series of unusually specific queries from a paper in his hands. Did David C. Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Delaware kept on under Mr. Garland to continue overseeing the inquiry, have full authority to bring charges against President Biden’s son in California and Washington if he wanted to? Had Mr. Weiss ever asked to be made a special counsel? official, Gary Shapley, oversaw the agency’s role in the investigation of Mr. Biden’s taxes and says his criticism of the Justice Department led to him being denied a promotion. He told the House Ways and Means Committee that Mr. Weiss had been rebuffed by top federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and Washington when he had raised the prospect of pursuing charges against the president’s son in those jurisdictions.

Persons: Charles E, Grassley, Merrick B, Garland, Hunter Biden, David C, Weiss, Biden’s, Gary Shapley Organizations: Republican, Trump, Republicans, Internal Revenue, Justice Department Locations: Iowa, Delaware, California, Washington, Los Angeles

☆ Report on Epstein’s Death Finds Errors and Mismanagement at Manhattan Jail
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

What they did find was a remarkable, and largely unexplained, succession of circumstances that made it easy for Mr. Epstein to kill himself. For reasons that remain unclear, the jail’s staff members allowed Mr. Epstein to hoard extra blankets, linens, bedding and clothing, despite the fact that he had tried to hang himself earlier. The inspector general’s report comes nearly four years after Mr. Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell with a bedsheet tied around his neck. Mr. Epstein had been awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, and if convicted, would have faced up to 45 years in prison. Two days after Mr. Epstein’s death, Attorney General William P. Barr said that there had been “serious irregularities” at the jail.

Persons: Epstein, —, Epstein’s, William P, Barr, ” Organizations: of Prisons, Wall Street titans

☆ Prosecutors Seek to Delay Trump Documents Trial to December
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Smith’s team also provided the defense lawyers with its first estimate of the number of witnesses — 84 — who might be called to testify. The judge presiding over Mr. Trump’s initial hearing requested the list to impose a restriction against the former president discussing the case with them, to prevent witness tampering. The defense may not share the prosecution’s urgency, and prosecutors said in their filing that defense lawyers planned to object to the special counsel’s timeline. Mr. Trump’s strategy in legal matters has long been to delay. The extent to which the two sides clash on scheduling and procedure poses an early test for Judge Cannon, a relatively inexperienced jurist appointed by Mr. Trump in 2020.

Persons: Smith’s, ”, Trump, Nauta, Trump’s, Judge Cannon Organizations: Prosecutors, Mr, White

It is not clear what he meant, but the declaration will have a near-term chilling effect on greater disclosure, effectively preventing Mr. Weiss from speaking publicly about the investigation until it is officially closed. House Republicans sought to portray the testimony by the I.R.S. officials as evidence that Hunter Biden had gotten a sweetheart deal from the Justice Department and that the department had been subject to political influence. In the testimony released by the committee on Thursday, the lead I.R.S. agent investigating whether Hunter Biden committed tax crimes told Congress his team uncovered evidence that Mr. Biden had invoked his father, who was then out of office, while pressing a potential Chinese business partner in 2017 to move ahead with a proposed energy deal, House Republicans said.

Persons: Weiss, Biden, Hunter Biden, Jason Smith, ” “, Mr, Zhang, ” Organizations: Republicans, Justice Department, Republican Locations: Missouri

☆ Airman Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Charges in Leaks Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Beth Treffeisen | Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Air National Guardsman accused of posting a trove of secret documents to an online chat group, pleaded not guilty to six counts of federal criminal charges on Wednesday, two months after his arrest. Airman Teixeira, appearing in an orange prison uniform and fresh buzz cut, sat quietly as a federal magistrate judge read him his rights before standing to say, “Not guilty, your honor,” during a 10-minute hearing in Worcester, Mass., attended by his family and dozens of media outlets. His lawyer asked the judge, David H. Hennessy, to reconsider an earlier decision to hold Airman Teixeira without bail indefinitely. His next court date, a conference to discuss the status of the case, was scheduled for early August. The next important legal benchmark will be the selection of a trial judge, who will set a trial timetable — if the two sides do not reach a plea agreement first, as has often happened in recent cases involving the illegal disclosure of government documents.

Persons: Jack Teixeira, Teixeira, “, David H, Hennessy Organizations: National, Justice Department Locations: Worcester

☆ Man Who Assaulted Officer on Jan. 6 Is Sentenced to More Than 12 Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Alan Feuer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Mr. Rodriguez finally left the Capitol grounds, prosecutors say, he sent a text message to a group chat he had created called Patriots 45 MAGA Gang, showing a gallows with the Capitol in the background. The text of the message read, “No Democrats found unfortunately.”“These people are zealots,” Mr. Fanone, who attended the hearing, said afterward. He “deeply respected and idolized Trump,” the lawyers wrote, adding, “He saw the former president as the father he wished he had.”But Mr. Rodriguez did little to help his own cause in the courtroom. She said she was particularly confounded by one thing Mr. Rodriguez had just said — that he had armed himself in anticipation of a fight with law enforcement, to participate in a demonstration intended to safeguard the police under a “Blue Lives Matter” banner. “Today was not the best day to say you had to be armed and ready because police don’t always do the right thing,” she said, as one of his lawyers slumped in her seat.

Persons: Mr, Rodriguez, “, Fanone, ” Mr, Trump, ”, Judge Jackson, don’t Organizations: Capitol, Patriots, Trump

☆ Garland’s Distance From Hunter Biden Inquiry Fails to Quell Critics
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland was 4,000 miles away from Delaware on Tuesday when federal prosecutors announced a deal for Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges that would most likely ensure he does not serve a prison sentence. It reflected the distance Mr. Garland has sought from the investigation into his boss’s son. Mr. Garland’s aides say his trip to Europe had been weeks in the making, and his absence from the country was happenstance, not calculation. The investigation into Hunter Biden predates Mr. Garland’s appointment. Mr. Garland did not dismiss Mr. Weiss, a Republican, to ensure the appearance of impartiality — a strategy aimed at protecting the department, and to some degree himself, from accusations of political favoritism.

Persons: Merrick B, Garland, Hunter Biden, Mr, Garland’s, Donald J, Trump, President Biden, Biden’s, David C, Weiss, Biden Organizations: Justice Department, Mr, Trump, Republican Locations: Delaware, Europe, Stockholm, The

The deal would be contingent on Mr. Biden remaining drug free for 24 months and agreeing never to own a firearm again. Mr. Biden is expected to appear in federal court in Delaware in the coming days to be arraigned on the misdemeanor tax charges and plead guilty. As president, Mr. Trump had long sought to tie Hunter Biden’s business deals and personal troubles to his father. Image The Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden continued after his father became president. Allegations promoted by Republicans that the elder Mr. Biden’s Justice Department went easy on his son are unlikely to fade away.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden’s, Hunter Biden’s, Biden, Mr, Hunter, Christopher Clark, Ian Sams, Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, David C, Weiss, General Merrick B, Garland, Clark, “ Hunter, ” Mr, Burisma, Haiyun Jiang, Obama, Beau, I.R.S, Seamus Hughes Organizations: Department, The, United States Attorney’s Office, District of, Republicans, Justice Department, House Republicans, Trump, Credit, New York Times, Prosecutors, United, Mr, Yale, Obama, Biden’s Justice Department, Congressional Republicans Locations: Delaware, District of Delaware, Ukrainian, China, United States, Ukraine

The deal would be contingent on Mr. Biden remaining drug free for 24 months and agreeing never to own a firearm again. Mr. Biden is expected to appear in federal court in Delaware in the coming days to be arraigned on the misdemeanor tax charges and plead guilty. Image The Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden continued after his father became president. Allegations promoted by Republicans that the elder Mr. Biden’s Justice Department went easy on his son are unlikely to fade away. supervisor who had been overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden hired a lawyer and went to Congress, alleging political favoritism in how the investigation had been handled.

The Justice Department accused the Minneapolis police on Friday of discriminating against Black and Native American people, using deadly force illegally and trampling the First Amendment rights of protesters and journalists — damning claims that grew out of a multiyear investigation and may lead to a court-enforced overhaul of the police force. The federal review was touched off by the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a Minneapolis officer in 2020, a crime that led to protests and unrest across the country. But the Justice Department’s scathing 89-page report looked well beyond that killing, describing a police force impervious to accountability whose officers beat, shot and detained people without justification and patrolled without the trust of residents. But to many people in the city, where protesters had complained for years about police excesses, Mr. Floyd’s death, as horrifying as it was, was not entirely surprising. The Justice Department investigators described “numerous incidents in which officers responded to a person’s statement that they could not breathe with a version of, ‘You can breathe; you’re talking right now.’”

Persons: George Floyd, Department’s, General Merrick B, Garland, Floyd’s, Floyd, Derek Chauvin, ’ Organizations: Department, Minneapolis police, Minneapolis Police Department, Justice Department Locations: Minneapolis

☆ In Trump Prosecution, Special Counsel Seeks to Avoid Distracting Fights
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jonathan Goodman, the magistrate judge assigned to handle Donald J. Trump’s arraignment, did something of a double take during the proceeding on Tuesday, when the Justice Department offered the former president a bond deal that was not merely lenient but imposed virtually no restrictions on him at all. Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the prosecution for the department, opted not to request conditions routinely imposed on other defendants seeking to be released from custody, like cash bail, limits on domestic travel or turning in his passport. But Judge Goodman, tasked with hashing out a bond agreement during a one-day cameo appearance on the case, was not entirely on board. He suggested that Mr. Trump be compelled to “avoid all contact with co-defendants, victims and witnesses except through counsel.” Mr. Smith’s deputy, David Harbach, joined Mr. Trump’s lawyers in opposing that idea — but the judge imposed a version of it anyway. The first courtroom skirmish in United States v. Donald J. Trump underscored the legal perils the former president faces and his determination to make the indictment a centerpiece of a 2024 presidential campaign fueled by grievance and retribution.

Persons: Jonathan Goodman, Donald J, Jack Smith, Judge Goodman, Trump, ” Mr, Smith’s, David Harbach Organizations: Justice Department Locations: United States

The Justice Department accused the Minneapolis Police Department of rampant discrimination, unlawful conduct and systemic mismanagement in a scathing 89-page report released on Friday. The federal investigation, launched in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer, “found that the systemic problems in M.P.D. made what happened to George Floyd possible.”Here are some of the key allegations in the report, which echoes complaints that some Minneapolis residents have made for years, and which could lead to a court-enforced consent decree:

Persons: George Floyd, “ Organizations: Department, Minneapolis Police Department Locations: Minneapolis, M.P.D

Crowd: “No justice, no peace.” Floyd’s death triggered major protests in Minneapolis, and sparked rage across the country. Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng step out of the car and approach the blue S.U.V. According to the criminal complaints filed against the officers, Floyd says he is claustrophobic and refuses to enter the police car. Her footage shows that despite calls for medical help, Chauvin keeps Floyd pinned down for another seven minutes. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, according to our review of the video evidence.

Persons: It’s, George Floyd, ”, Derek Chauvin, Floyd, “, Thomas Lane, J, Alexander Kueng, Lane, yanks Floyd, Tou Thao, Thao, Chauvin, Kueng, Darnella Frazier, I’ve, ” Floyd, Bro, They’ve, He’s, “ Floyd, George Floyd’s Organizations: Police, Cup Foods, yanks, Foods, Minneapolis Police Department Locations: Minneapolis, Houston, Floyd, United States

☆ Airman Who Leaked Files Is Indicted on Charges of Mishandling Secrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who posted dozens of secret intelligence reports and other sensitive documents on a social media server, on six counts of retaining and transmitting classified national defense information. The filing of criminal charges in Boston federal court against Airman Teixeira, 21, comes about two months after F.B.I. But it was not immediately clear how many of the vaguely described incidents that underlie the charges had been previously disclosed and which ones were being made public for the first time. Airman Teixeira’s disclosures — exposing secrets of the United States, its allies and its adversaries — have bared rifts between the United States and its allies and given Russia information about intelligence-gathering methods, as news organizations have divulged some of the material. And Justice Department lawyers have said the extent of the information he leaked “far exceeds what has been publicly disclosed.”

Persons: Jack Teixeira, Teixeira, —, ” Organizations: Massachusetts Air National, Department Locations: Boston, North Dighton, United States, Russia

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