The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/u-s-department-of-justice/)
The New York Times says the president tried to get an ally to take charge of the probe into his role in silencing women with hush payments. Trump calls the report “fake news.”
Jeffrey Rosen, the No. 2 official at the Transportation Department and a longtime colleague of Attorney General William Barr, was formally nominated as the Barr’s top deputy, replacing Rod Rosenstein.
William Barr was confirmed Thursday as President Trump’s second attorney general by a 54-45 Senate vote. Rosen, his choice as deputy to replace Rod Rosenstein, was an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis, Barr’s former law firm, and is currently deputy transportation secretary.
An internal Justice Department Gender Equality Network says no women work in 50 senior Justice Department jobs. BuzzFeed News says that of the 38 officers listed in the DOJ organization chart, 10 are led by women.
The Senate is likely to support William Barr as the next Attorney General within days. Democrats are questioning his plans to oversee special counsel Robert Mueller, but Republicans hold a solid majority.
“It’s a lot. It’s way too many,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said of the acting positions in Cabinet agencies. The third-highest-ranking position at the Justice Department has been vacant for nearly a year, with no nominee in sight.
Promising he won’t cave to pressure from President Trump or anyone else, William Barr sailed through the second day of Senate confirmation hearings. He’s expected to be confirmed easily as the nation’s next attorney general.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will testify before the House Judiciary Committee. He will appear one day after Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testifies before the House Oversight Committee.
William Barr, who was known as a hard-liner on crime during his previous stint as Attorney General in the President George H. W. Bush administration, said he had “no problem with reforming the sentencing structure” as outlined in the First Step Act, which was passed by Congress and signed by Trump in late December.
A legal opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice could threaten the viability of online gambling that crosses state lines such as poker. The opinion interprets the federal Wire Act, which prohibits interstate wagering, to apply to any form of gambling that crosses state lines, not just sports betting.