Latest in Department of Justice
The Horowitz report poses a deep challenge to those of us who have broadly defended expansive surveillance authorities over the past several years. That challenge is not the one President Trump and his supporters have lodged against the FBI and its integrity.
Overview
The attorney general has now directed John Durham, the U.S.
Traditional organized crime, ranging from the Italian-American mafia to street gangs, has long been a target of American law enforcement efforts. Unlike purely domestic organized crime, transnational organized crime, defined by the Justice Department as groups that pursue criminal activities across geographic boundaries, has profound national security implications.
Attorney General Bill Barr will testify on Wednesday morning before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Department of Justice fiscal 2020 budget request. The livestream is available here and below.
Attorney General Bill Bar will testify before the House Committee on Appropriations on the Department of Justice FY2020 budget request. The livestream is available here and below.
The official position of the Department of Justice—according to a legal brief filed in February—is that association with a terrorism charge is so stigmatizing that defendants should not be publicly identified, even after conviction. Doing so would lead to “harassment, embarrassment, barriers to reintegration and renewed public attention.” It might even expose defendants to “the potential for violence or renewed contact” by extremist groups “plotting future terrorist attacks or intimidating witnesses.”
I was pleased to host this discussion at the Brookings Institution yesterday with Susan Hennessey, Margaret Taylor, both of Brookings, and former National Security Division chief Mary McCord, now at Georgetown law. It's a very good discussion of where we are with the Mueller Report and the congressional politics surrounding it.
Introduction
President Trump’s attorney general nominee William Barr says he has the “the utmost respect” for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but during his confirmation hearings he would not pledge to release any report produced by Mueller’s office. Some see an inconsistency. They’re wrong.