Justice Department

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Puerto Rico Police Brutal, Corrupt: Justice Dept.

Scathing report finds department routinely violates civil rights

(Newser) - Violent crime is on the rise in Puerto Rico—and the police department is part of the problem, a scathing new report from the Justice Department concludes. The department is “broken in a number of critical and fundamental respects,” according to a copy of the report obtained by...

Feds Nab 91 in $295M Medicare Fraud Sting

Accused 'treated' dead people, ran Florida housing scheme

(Newser) - The Obama administration notched yet another win for its Medicare fraud team yesterday, as the Justice Department announced the arrests of 91 fraudsters from across the country, accused of bilking Uncle Sam for a combined $295 million. “The defendants allegedly treated the Medicare program like a personal piggy bank,...

AT&T 'Pretty Confident' It Can Save T-Mobile Deal

Phone giant tries to duck antitrust concerns

(Newser) - AT&T is dead set on getting its $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile past anti-trust regulators, and it’s developing a two-part plan to do so. While one of the telecom giant’s hands is preparing to battle the Justice Department in court, the other will be trying to strike...

Justice Dept. Sues to Block AT&T's Bid to Buy T-Mobile

Says combining No. 2 and No. 4 carrier would raise prices

(Newser) - AT&T tried to sugarcoat its $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA by announcing this morning that it would, as a result of the merger, return 5,000 call-center jobs to US shores. But it still wasn't sweet enough for the Justice Department, which has filed suit to...

Feds Catching 85% More Health Care Fraudsters

This is shaping up to be a banner year

(Newser) - Health care fraud prosecutions have shot up this year, thanks to an Obama administration crackdown, according to new figures from a Syracuse University research team. Already the feds have prosecuted 903 people for fraud this year, which is 24% more than they nabbed in the entirety of 2010, and puts...

Feds Probing Standard and Poor's

Agency's behavior before financial crisis in spotlight

(Newser) - Looks like Standard & Poor's could be in for a downgrade of its own—from the Justice Department. Federal investigators are probing possible wrongdoing at the credit ratings agency in the years leading up to the financial crisis, sources tell the New York Times . The probe, expected to lead...

Georgia Town Relents, Approves Expanded Mosque

Pressure from Department of Justice prompts change in Lilburn

(Newser) - The city council of Lilburn, Georgia, changed its tune last night, voting 3-1 to approve expansion plans for a local mosque that it had blocked for nearly two years, after the federal Justice Department said it would investigate the town. Residents packed into City Hall for the meeting, with nearly...

Feds Sue Alabama Over Immigration Law

Says law oversteps its bounds, interferes with federal policy

(Newser) - In a move that will shock exactly no one, the Department of Justice is treating Alabama’s extraordinarily harsh illegal immigration law the same way it treated Arizona’s: It’s suing. The DOJ is asking for an injunction stopping the law from going into effect on Sept. 1, arguing...

Eric Holder to Talk Phone Hacking With 9/11 Families

US investigation gets serious

(Newser) - The FBI's investigation into allegations that News of the World reporters hacked the phones of 9/11 victims must be heating up, because Attorney General Eric Holder himself will meet with families of the dead next month to discuss the probe's progress, the Guardian reports. A lawyer for 20...

Book Renews Calls to Reopen Malcolm X Case

Author brings fresh scrutiny, suggests real killers went free

(Newser) - Calls to reopen the investigation into the assassination of Malcolm X are gaining momentum thanks to a new best-selling biography, reports the New York Times . In Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, now-deceased Columbia professor Manning Marable revisits the long-held assumption that authorities botched the case , arguing that two of...

Senator Says AT&T, T-Mobile Merger Must Die

Urges FCC, Justice Department to block it on anti-trust grounds

(Newser) - AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile must be blocked on antitrust grounds, Sen. Herb Kohl declared today. The chair of the Senate subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights released a letter urging the FCC and Justice Department to step in before the two phone companies get hitched, the...

Feds Arrest 14 Alleged Hackers From Anonymous

They face charges related to last year's attack on PayPal

(Newser) - The hackers of Anonymous are apparently a far-flung group. The Justice Department today said it arrested 14 of them across nine states and the District of Columbia, reports the AP . They are accused of taking part in last year's attack on PayPal , which took place after the website suspended...

Feds Investigating Ex-CIA Agent for War Crimes

Steve Stormoen supervised 'ghosting' program

(Newser) - A federal investigation into a potential war crime committed at Abu Ghraib is closing in on the man who ran the CIA’s “ghosting” program. In the hush-hush program headed up by now-retired agent Steve Stormoen, the CIA interrogated prisoners without ever having noted their presence in Army logs,...

Feds Dash Hopes for Large-Scale Pot Farms

Justice Department says it won't allow industrial-scale operations

(Newser) - The Justice Department has a message for states, cities, and private operators looking to cash in on medical marijuana by setting up large-scale commercial farms: Let's not get carried away. A new memo sent this week to federal prosecutors makes clear that these kinds of operations will not be...

US to Investigate Deaths of Two Detainees

Holder orders pair of inquiries but drops nearly 100 others

(Newser) - The is-it-torture debate is probably going to rev up again: The Justice Department says it will launch criminal inquiries into the deaths of two detainees in US custody in 2002 and 2003, reports the Washington Post . Eric Holder gave the green light on the recommendation of federal prosecutor John Durham,...

Holder Backs Release of 5,500 Crack Offenders

Proposal would correct vast crack/cocaine sentencing gap

(Newser) - Eric Holder today told the US Sentencing Commission that he supports a proposal to release thousands of federal prisoners convicted on crack-related offenses. Until Congress changed them last year, federal sentencing guidelines gave crack users—who are predominantly poor and black—much harsher sentences than powder cocaine users. Now, Holder...

Arizona Sues Feds Over Medical Marijuana

Jan Brewer wants clarification on federal law before proceeding

(Newser) - Arizona's medical marijuana law is now stuck in legal limbo. Gov. Jan Brewer has put a temporary halt on the permit process for dispensaries just days before it was to begin, reports the Arizona Republic . Brewer and the state won't move ahead until they get clarification on whether...

NYT Reporter Subpoenaed in CIA Leak Case

James Risen hasn't cooperated in case against his alleged source

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena demanding testimony from New York Times reporter James Risen in the case against ex-CIA employee Jeffrey Sterling, who allegedly leaked info about a failed CIA disinformation campaign to him for a 2006 book. A judge has already quashed one subpoena issued to Risen, but...

Goldman Expects Barrage of Subpoenas

Move could presage criminal charges

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs officials believe federal prosecutors are about to slap them with a series of subpoenas as it follows up on the scathing report on the company from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that they expect the Justice Department to come knocking within...

Nasdaq, ICE Drop Bid for NYSE Euronext

They recognized transaction would not receive regulatory approval

(Newser) - Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange are withdrawing their proposed $11 billion bid for the parent of the New York Stock Exchange after recognizing they would not receive regulatory approval for the transaction. The two financial giants announced today that they had held unsuccessful talks with the antitrust division of the Justice Department...

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