Law enforcement leans on 3D-printer industry to help thwart machine gun conversion devices
Justice Department officials are turning to the 3D-printing industry to help stop the proliferation of tiny pieces of plastic transforming semi-automatic weapons into illegal homemade machine guns on streets across America.
American company, Russian propaganda: New Kremlin tactic reveals escalating effort to sway US vote
This week's indictment of two Russian state media employees accused of paying a Tennessee company to create pro-Russian content is revealing Moscow's latest tactic for meddling in the November election.
Justice Department accuses RealPage of a scheme to help landlords hike rents in antitrust lawsuit
The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against real estate software company RealPage, accusing it of an illegal scheme that allows landlords to coordinate to hike rental prices.
Justice Dept. says it's committed to sharing info about foreign election threats with tech companies
The Justice Department is committed to sharing with social media companies information that it picks up about efforts by foreign governments to influence this yearโs elections.
Justice Department ramps up efforts to reduce violent crime with gun intel center, carjacking forces
The Justice Department is ramping up its efforts to reduce violent crime in the U.S., launching a specialized gun intelligence center in Chicago and expanding task forces to curb carjackings.
Ex-police officer convicted in sexual assault is the first to face tougher new penalty, DOJ says
The Justice Department says a former Oklahoma police officer convicted in the sexual assault of a woman during a traffic stop will become the first to face a heftier penalty under the 2022 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Attorney General Merrick Garland to undergo surgery, Justice Department says
Attorney General Merrick Garland will undergo back surgery this weekend and delegate his duties to the deputy attorney general during the procedure.
Justice Department announces charges against hundreds of alleged COVID-19 fraudsters
Hundreds of people have been charged with the theft of more than $830 million in COVID-19 emergency aid following a nationwide operation conducted by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday.
US says price caps on Russia's oil are cutting revenue nearly in half and weakening its economy
When the Group of Seven nations, the European Union and Australia last year announced a plan to cap the price of Russian oil, U.S. officials said it would deliver a most effective blow to Russiaโs economy, undermining its greatest revenue source.
US infiltrates big ransomware gang: 'We hacked the hackers'
Attorney General Merrick Garland and other U.S. officials say the FBI and international partners have at least temporarily disrupted the network of a prolific ransomware gang they infiltrated last year.
Justice Dept. charges Russian founder of cryptocurrency firm
A Russian national who founded a cryptocurrency exchange the Justice Department says evaded U.S. regulations and became a haven for proceeds of criminal activity has been arrested.
Senators want answers in wake of APโs prison investigations
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says he plans to question the director of the federal Bureau of Prisons this week about why the agency continues to stand by a high-ranking official who beat Black inmates in the 1990s.
Garland: Justice Dept.'s civil rights work is key priority
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the early work of the Justice Departmentโs Civil Rights Division meant confronting white supremacists who were intimidating Black voters, and the division's work remains urgent 65 years later amid a surge of hate crimes.
Judge OKs federal intervention in struggling water system
The U.S. Justice Department has received a federal judgeโs approval to carry out its proposal to improve the precarious water system in Mississippiโs capital city.
White House hosts lawyers for discussion on abortion access
Attorney General Merrick Garland headlined a White House event bringing together pro bono lawyers, bar associations and public interest groups to discuss how best to offer legal services and protections for women seeking abortions.
US disrupts North Korean hackers that targeted hospitals
The FBI and Justice Department recently disrupted the activities of a hacking group that was sponsored by the North Korean government and that targeted U.S. hospitals with ransomware.
Advocates push for release of women's prison abuse victims
A prominent national criminal justice advocacy groups is pushing the Justice Department to support the release of women who were sexually abused by staff at a federal womenโs prison in California.
US charges Russian oligarch, dismantles cybercrime operation
The Justice Department has charged a Russian oligarch with sanctions violations and has taken down a cybercrime operation controlled by a Russian military intelligence agency.
Russian officials charged in years-old energy sector hacks
The Justice Department says four Russian government officials have been charged in hacks that targeted critical global infrastructure including the U.S. energy and aviation sectors between 2012 and 2018.
Justice Dept. names prosecutor to go after pandemic fraud
The Justice Department has named a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud, following through on President Joe Bidenโs State of the Union promise to go after criminals who stole billions in relief money.
Senators push Garland to reform prisons after AP reporting
The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland take immediate action to reform the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons.
Justice Dept. announces $3.6B crypto seizure, 2 arrests
The Justice Department has announced its largest-ever financial seizure โ more than $3.5 billion โ and the arrests of a New York couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Jan. 6 committee subpoenas fake Trump electors in 7 states
The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection has subpoenaed more than a dozen individuals who it says falsely tried to declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election.
Durbin: Prisons chief has 'no intention of reforming' system
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is lambasting the director of the beleaguered federal prison system, saying he has โno intention of reforming the institution.โ.
Durbin calls for Garland to remove federal prisons director
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland immediately fire the director of the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons.
Inside federal prisons, employees are committing the crimes
An Associated Press investigation has found that more than 100 federal Bureau of Prisons employees have been arrested, convicted or sentenced in criminal cases since the start of 2019.
US charges 2 suspected major ransomware operators
A suspected Ukrainian hacker has been arrested and charged in the United States in connection with a string of costly ransomware attacks, including one that snarled businesses around the globe on the Fourth of July weekend.
150 people arrested in US-Europe darknet drug probe
Law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe have arrested 150 people and seized more than $31 million in an international drug trafficking investigation stemming from sales on the darknet.
US poised to sue contractors who don't report cyber breaches
The Justice Department is poised to sue government contractors and other companies who receive U.S. government grants if they fail to report breaches of their cyber systems.
The jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself is crumbling
Once hailed as a prototype for a new kind of federal jail and the most secure in the country, New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center has become a blighted wreck.
Justice Dept. curtails agents' use of 'no-knock' warrants
The Justice Department is curtailing federal agentsโ use of โno-knockโ warrants โ which allow law enforcement agents to enter a home without announcing their presence โ and would also prohibit its agents from using chokeholds in most circumstances.
US closing troubled NYC jail where Epstein killed himself
The U.S. government says it is shutting down an embattled federal jail in New York City after a slew of problems that came to light following Jeffrey Epsteinโs suicide there two years ago.
Justice Dept. bolsters monitoring of federal inmate accounts
The Justice Department is directing the federal prison system implement new procedures to monitor government-run prison deposit accounts that have at times been used by inmates to shield themselves from paying debts and for suspicious or illegal activity.
AP source: Justice Dept secretly subpoenaed McGahnโs records
Apple informed former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn and his wife that the Justice Department had subpoenaed information about accounts that belonged to them in 2018.
Deputies who killed man had body cams, couldn't use them
The two sheriffโs deputies who shot and killed a Black man while assigned to a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force had been told they could not use their body-worn cameras.
Pipeline CEO defends paying ransom amid cyberattack
A pipeline company CEO is making no apologies for his decisions to abruptly halt fuel distribution for much of the East Coast and pay millions to a criminal gang in Russia as he faced down one of the most disruptive ransomware attacks in U.S. history.
Latvian woman charged in US with role in cybercrime group
A Latvian woman has been charged with developing malicious software used by a major cybercrime digital network that infected computers worldwide and looted bank accounts of millions of dollars.
Feds take down Medicare scams that preyed on virus fears
The Justice Department is announcing criminal charges against more than a dozen people from Florida to California in a series of Medicare scams that exploited coronavirus fears to bill tens of millions of dollars in bogus claims.
US looking at how to weed out extremists in law enforcement
Attorney General Merrick Garland says the Justice Department is looking into how it can weed out any extremists from within federal law enforcement following the arrest of current and former law enforcement officers involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Biden works to balance civil rights and criminal justice
President Joe Bidenโs difficult balancing act on policing was put on vivid display over the course of a few hours as he tries to navigate criminal justice and civil rights.
Biden works to balance civil rights and criminal justice
President Joe Bidenโs difficult balancing act on policing was put on vivid display over the course of a few hours Tuesday as he tries to navigate criminal justice and civil rights.
75 ex-top prosecutors endorse Bidenโs pick for associate AG
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2021 file photo, Associate Attorney General nominee Vanita Gupta speaks during an event with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. More than 75 former U.S. attorneys are throwing their support behind Gupta for associate attorney general and urging congressional leaders to quickly confirm her to the post. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON โ More than 75 former U.S. attorneys are throwing their support behind President Joe Bidenโs nominee for associate attorney general and urging congressional leaders to quickly confirm her to the post. She was in charge of the Justice Departmentโs civil rights division in the Obama administration. The Senate has scheduled the confirmation hearing for Gupta and Lisa Monaco, Bidenโs nominee for deputy attorney general, for March 9.
Biden marks nation's Covid grief before inauguration pomp
President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden look out at lights during a COVID-19 memorial, with lights placed around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. โTo heal we must remember," the incoming president told the nation at a sunset ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. โBetween sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights into the darkness ... and remember all who we lost,โ Biden said. Biden at his Delaware farewell, held at the National Guard/Reserve Center named after his late son Beau Biden, paid tribute to his home state. ___This story has been corrected to show that flags on the National Mall represent people who couldn't come, not COVID deaths.
Biden blames Trump for violence at Capitol that's shaken US
President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, to announce key nominees for the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON โ President-elect Joe Biden has denounced the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol as โdomestic terroristsโ and he blamed President Donald Trump for the violence that has shaken the nation's capital and beyond. It was chaos.โThose who massed on Capitol Hill intending to disrupt a joint session of Congress that was certifying Bidenโs election victory over Trump โwerenโt protesters. The remarks came during an event in Wilmington, Delaware, to introduce Biden's Justice Department team, to be led by federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland as attorney general. The Justice Department is expected to dramatically change course during the Biden administration, with a greater focus on civil rights issues and a review of policing policies.
Biden introduces Merrick Garland as attorney general pick
President-elect Joe Biden is set to name Garland as Attorney General. If confirmed by the Senate, which is likely, Garland would take over as the U.S. attorney general at a critical moment for the country and the agency. His confirmation prospects as attorney general were all but ensured when Democrats scored control of the Senate majority by winning both Georgia Senate seats. Biden also introduced three others for senior Justice Department leadership posts on Thursday, including Obama administration homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general and former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general, the No. Garland was selected over other finalists including former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
President-elect Joe Biden to name judge Merrick Garland as attorney general
President-elect Joe Biden is set to name Garland as Attorney General. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)WASHINGTON โ President-elect Joe Biden has selected Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge who in 2016 was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court, as his attorney general, two people familiar with the selection process said Wednesday. Garland was selected over other finalists including former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. At the time of the bombing, Garland was 42 and principal associate deputy attorney general, a top lieutenant to Attorney General Janet Reno. Eric Holder, President Barack Obamaโs first attorney general, had also previously been a Superior Court judge in the District of Columbia.
Biden's attorney general search is focused on Jones, Garland
WASHINGTON โ Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland are emerging as the leading contenders to be nominated as President-elect Joe Bidenโs attorney general, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Biden's thinking was described by people with knowledge of the presidential transition's internal thinking who were not authorized to speak publicly. Jones, who is white, has had a long-standing personal relationship with Biden dating back to Bidenโs first presidential campaign in 1988. Jones would not comment Tuesday on the possibility of a nomination as attorney general. The Biden team has also been considering a number of other potential candidates for the post, including former Justice Department official Lisa Monaco.
Barr's special counsel move could tie up his successor
WASHINGTON โ Outgoing Attorney General William Barr's decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate the handling of the Russia probe ensures his successor won't have an easy transition. But the maneuvering over the special counsel is especially significant because it saddles Democrats with an investigation that they've derided as tainted. A special counsel can only be dismissed for cause. The Biden transition did not respond to a request for comment on the special counsel appointment. But Barr's decision could influence whom the president-elect puts forth as a nominee for attorney general.