The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/u-s-department-of-justice/)
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Thursday will issue the highly anticipated findings of his examination of the FBI’s handling of its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. Later, he will take on aspects of the special counsel’s Russia probe.
The revelation that DOJ had seized years of phone and email records from New York Times reporter Ali Watkins raised concerns that the Trump administration was adopting a highly aggressive approach, continuing a crackdown that ramped up in the Obama years.
Key Republican senators have warned the White House that the president could be waiting indefinitely for a new attorney general if he tosses out their former colleague. Still, President Trump could call the Senate’s bluff.
The Trump administration put its search for the Justice Department’s No. 3 official, the Associate Attorney General, on the back burner after failing to persuade several candidates to take the challenging position. The nominees to head the criminal and civil rights divisions still await a Senate vote.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Justice Department will “increase resources to combat violent crime, enforce our immigration laws, and help roll back the devastating opioid crisis.”
Inspector General Michael Horowitz is expected to release a nearly 500-page report criticizing the main Justice Department and FBI for their handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Meanwhile, he has intensified his review of the Russia probe, interviewing the FBI agent who once led the case.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats oppose Brian Benczkowski because he represented a Russian bank that has been investigated by the FBI. His nomination has been pending for a year.
The Justice Department’s inspector general will examine if there was any impropriety in the counterintelligence investigation of President Trump’s 2016 campaign. The president demanded such a probe after reports that a federal informant approached Trump campaign aides.
The Bureau of Prisons will use an inmate’s biological sex to determine where that person will be housed and which bathroom the person will use, The Bureau of Justice Statistics has proposed that it no longer collect information about sexual orientation and gender identity from teens who take part in the National Crime Victimization Survey.
Noel Francisco would supervise special counsel Robert Mueller if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein leaves. Chris Christie is not a fan of the prospect.