Senate Intel Committee leaders urge "immediate compliance" with Biden, Trump documents briefing request
Sens. Mark Warner and Marco Rubio renewed demand that their committee be briefed on classified documents found at Trump and Biden residences, and expanded request to include documents found in former Vice President Pence's possession.
cbsnews.comPro-Russian hackers claim responsibility for cyber attacks on U.S. hospitals
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A pro-Russian hacking group is claiming responsibility for cyberattacks on several hospitals in the United States. READ: Treasury to increase borrowing amid debt ceiling standoffU.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says they’ve seen how cyber attacks on medical facilities can be very disruptive. “The Hive ransomware attack was able to prevent the hospital from accepting new patients,” Garland explained. Today, #FBI Director Christopher Wray announced the disruption of the Hive ransomware group. @FBITampa pic.twitter.com/urHtWNlJVx — FBI (@FBI) January 26, 2023READ: Tyre Nichols death: 6th Memphis police officer relieved of dutyIn 2022, healthcare organizations reported seeing a 90-percent increase in cyber attacks.
wftv.comTyre Nichols death: FBI director 'appalled' by video of police beating
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Friday that body camera footage of the beating of Tyre Nichols by police in Memphis, Tenn., left him horrified. “I have seen the video myself and I will tell you, I was appalled,” Wray told reporters at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. Last week, the Justice Department launched a separate federal civil rights investigation into the matter. Garland and Wray joined President Biden and the Nichols family in urging would-be protesters to be peaceful. They failed our community, and they failed the Nichols family.
wftv.comUS infiltrates big ransomware gang: 'We hacked the hackers'
“Simply put, using lawful means we hacked the hackers,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at a news conference. Officials said the targeted syndicate, known as Hive, operates one of the world's top five ransomware networks. A U.S. government advisory last year said Hive ransomware actors victimized over 1,300 companies worldwide from June 2021 through November 2022, receiving approximately $100 million in ransom payments. It said criminals using Hive ransomware targeted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure, including government, manufacturing and especially health care and public health facilities. It did so in the case of a major 2021 ransomware attack on Kaseya, a company whose software runs hundreds of websites.
wftv.comUS infiltrates big ransomware gang: 'We hacked the hackers'
The FBI and international partners have at least temporarily dismantled the network of a prolific ransomware gang they infiltrated last year, saving victims including hospitals and school districts a potential $130 million in ransom payments, Attorney General Merrick Garland and other U.S. officials announced Thursday. Officials said the targeted syndicate, known as Hive, operates one of the world's top five ransomware networks and has heavily targeted hospitals and other health care providers. The FBI quietly gained access to its control panel in July and was able to obtain software keys to decrypt the network of some 1,300 victims globally, said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
news.yahoo.comDOJ sues Google, accusing company of violating antitrust laws
The Justice Department and several states filed suit Tuesday against Google, accusing the company of violating antitrust laws to preserve its dominance over digital advertising technologies. >> Read more trending newsThe technologies, known as ad tech, automatically connect prospective advertisers with website publishers who have open ad space. They’re automatically triggered when a person opens a webpage that has ad space to sell, almost instantly matching the site’s publisher with an advertiser, Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference. “As a result of this scheme, website creators earn less and advertisers pay more. Justice Department Sues Google for Monopolizing Digital Advertising TechnologiesThrough Serial Acquisitions and Anticompetitive Auction Manipulation, Google Subverted Competition in Internet Advertising Technologieshttps://t.co/0bwDlmWXaP — Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) January 24, 2023Check back for more on this developing story.
wftv.comJustice Dept. sues Google over digital advertising dominance
WASHINGTON — (AP) — The Justice Department and several states sued Google on Tuesday, alleging that its dominance in digital advertising harms competition. The DOJ's suit accuses Google of unlawfully monopolizing the way ads are served online by excluding competitors. This is the latest legal action taken against Google by either the Justice Department or local state governments. In October 2020, for instance, the Trump administration and eleven state attorneys general sued Google for violating antitrust laws, alleging anticompetitive practices in the search and search advertising markets. The lawsuit in essence aligns the Biden administration and new states with the 35 states and District of Colombia that sued Google in December 2020 over the exact same issues.
wftv.comDOJ treating investigations into Biden and Trump's handling of classified docs the same, Garland says
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday that the Justice Department is treating the investigations into classified documents found at the homes of Joe Biden and Donald Trump the same.
foxnews.comBiden, Trump cases pull Justice Dept. toward politics
Still another special counsel appointed during the Trump administration to investigate the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe also remains at work. In its place came new Justice Department regulations that authorized the attorney general to appoint a “special counsel” like Smith and Hur. They are funded by the Justice Department, can bring on their own prosecutors, are entitled to office space and are often expensive. The Justice Department has also long held the belief that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Mary McCord, a former Justice Department national security official, said she expected Smith to weigh the Mar-a-Lago facts and evidence just as before.
wftv.comBiden classified documents: What are special counsels and what exactly can they do?
A special counsel — formerly referred to as a special prosecutor or independent counsel — is an attorney appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing. But in "extraordinary circumstances," federal regulations allow the attorney general to appoint a special counsel. When the special counsel’s work is done, the regulations say, they are expected to submit a report to the attorney general. What powers do special counsels have? In addition to the authority to bring indictments, special counsels are vested with the authority to issue subpoenas and search warrants.
wftv.comFeds finalize tighter regulations on gun stabilizing braces
WASHINGTON — (AP) — The Justice Department is finalizing tighter regulations on guns with accessories known as stabilizing braces, a gun-control action touted by President Joe Biden after the devices were used in mass shootings in recent years. A stabilizing brace was also used in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio, that left nine people dead in 2019. The new rule will treat guns with the accessories like short-barreled rifles, a weapon that is like a sawed-off shotgun and has been heavily regulated since the 1930s. Pistol-stabilizing braces transform a handgun into a weapon with a similarly dangerous combination of being powerful and easy to conceal, said Attorney General Merrick Garland. Officials estimated about 3 million stabilizing braces are currently in circulation in the U.S.
wftv.comWhite House knocked off course by Biden classified document revelations
The next day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre found herself in the uncomfortable position of having to serve as the administration’s crisis manager. Reporters at Wednesday’s contentious briefing wanted to know why the classified documents were at the Penn office and what had led to their discovery. And why did the White House keep quiet until forced to acknowledge – after an initial report by CBS News on Monday – the documents’ existence? "In the short term, it's a very uncomfortable issue for the White House. Only it was becoming increasingly clear that, short of producing photocopies of the classified papers, there was no right thing the White House could say.
wftv.comBiden special counsel deepens Justice Dept. in politics fray
But it's now confronting a unique phenomenon: simultaneous special counsel investigations — albeit with dramatically distinct fact sets — involving two presidents, jostling for time, attention and perhaps funding as well. Another special counsel appointed during the Trump administration to investigate the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation also remains at work. The special counsel confluence underscores how a Justice Department that for nearly two centuries has had a mandate of prosecuting without fear or favor has found itself entangled in extraordinary ways in presidential politics. “Why," he added, "give yourself the grief of the comparison of the two situations" of a special counsel for Trump, a Republican, but not for Biden, a Democrat. Mary McCord, a former Justice Department national security official, said she expected Smith to weigh the Mar-a-Lago facts and evidence just as before.
wftv.comJustice Dept. enters political fray with 2 special counsels
The Justice Department has, of course, investigated White House matters in the past. But it's now confronting a unique phenomenon: simultaneous special counsel investigations — albeit with dramatically distinct fact sets — involving two presidents, jostling for time, attention and perhaps funding as well. Another special counsel appointed during the Trump administration to investigate the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation also remains at work. The Justice Department has also long held the belief that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Mary McCord, a former Justice Department national security official, said she expected Smith to weigh the Mar-a-Lago facts and evidence just as before.
wftv.comBiden political future clouded by classified document probe
NEW YORK — (AP) — Virtually everything was going right for President Joe Biden as he opened the year. But on Thursday, Biden's political outlook veered into more uncertain territory after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the Democratic president's handling of classified documents. Trump, who is being probed for potentially obstructing investigators, also had far more classified documents in his possession. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Biden said he was cooperating “fully and completely with the Justice Department’s review.”“People know I take classified documents and classified material seriously,” Biden said. “But it’s important to keep all of this in context: Everyone views President Biden as a far more responsible figure than Donald Trump.
wftv.comWho is Robert Hur, special counsel in Biden documents case?
WASHINGTON — (AP) — Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney for Maryland nominated by then-President Donald Trump, will serve as special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden's home in Delaware and at an office in Washington. The Justice Department has spent months looking into Trump's retention of more than 300 documents with classification markings found at his Florida estate. That discovery sparked outcry from Biden and other top Democrats, while the developments around Biden have drawn sharp criticism from Republicans. Hur served as U.S. attorney in Maryland from 2018 to 2021, winning unanimous Senate approval after Trump nominated him. He is also a former partner at the Washington law firm King & Spalding, where FBI Director Christopher Wray was once also a partner.
wftv.comWho is Robert Hur, special counsel in Biden documents case?
Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney for Maryland nominated by then-President Donald Trump, will serve as special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware and at an office in Washington.
EXPLAINER: What are special counsels and what do they do?
The appointment of a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department probes into the discovery of classified documents at the home and former office of President Joe Biden has focused renewed attention on the role such prosecutors have played in modern American history.
Group urges feds to investigate Snapchat over fentanyl sales
As the U.S. deals with its deadliest overdose crisis to date, a national crime-prevention group is calling on the Justice Department to clamp down on social media’s role in the spread of fentanyl, the drug largely driving a troubling spike in overdose deaths among teenagers.
Garland: Justice Dept.'s civil rights work is key priority
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the early work of the Justice Department’s 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.
Garland announces special counsel to lead Trump-related probes
Attorney General Merrick Garland has named a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate and aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.
Arizona sheriff steps up security around ballot drop boxes
The sheriff in metropolitan Phoenix says he’s stepped up security around ballot drop boxes after a series of incidents involving people keeping watch on the boxes and taking video of voters after they were apparently inspired by lies about the 2020 election.
DEA: Fake pills containing fentanyl helping drive OD deaths
Federal officials say an increasing number of fake prescription pills containing potentially deadly fentanyl are helping drive overdose death rates to record levels in the U.S. And officials warn that some of the pills are being manufactured in rainbow colors designed to look like candy.