Tag: doj

Epstein files release in chaos as Trump officials scramble to redact thousands of documents hours before deadline

Donald Trump‘s Department of Justice is working around the clock to redact thousands of pages from the Epstein files before their legally required release Friday.

White House officials are bracing for the release of the files after Trump has been the subject of rampant speculation about his connection to Epstein. 

Also believed to be in the files are former President Bill Clinton, the former Prince Andrew, and others.

There are fears that the same rushed workflow and deadline could lead to similar mistakes to the release of the JFK assassination files, which unintentionally revealed the social security numbers of more than 200 people. 

Pam Bondi’s DOJ lawyers are worried that the the Justice Department’s National Security Division don’t have the proper guidance on how to provide the most information legally possible. 

Attorneys for the DOJ are reportedly working on over 1,000 documents per week to get the files ready in time to meet their deadline, CNN reported. 

They must be able to edit the files to protect the victims of the late billionaire pedophile and meet executive and legal privacy requirements. Many are preparing for more to be redacted than is legally necessary. 

‘Either they’re going to screw it up or they’re going to withhold things. It wouldn’t surprise me. Some of it may be incompetence as much as deliberate,’ a non-DOJ lawyer awaiting the release said. 

The DOJ has asked additional counter-intelligence specialists to drop everything else they were doing to process the files. Some refused the assignment.  

Keep reading

FBI repeatedly warned DOJ didn’t have probable cause to raid Trump home: ‘Not been corroborated’

he FBI in summer 2022 raised repeated objections to raiding Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, warning agents did not believe the Biden Justice Department had enough evidence to establish “probable cause” that the then-former president had broken the law in handling classified documents, according to bombshell memos turned over Tuesday to Congress.

“WFO [FBI’s Washington Field Office] has conducted approximately [Redacted] interviews related to this matter. Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,” a June 1, 2022 FBI memo declared. “From the interviews, WFO has gathered information suggesting that there may be additional boxes (presumably of the same type as were sent back to NARA [National Archives] in January) at Mar-a-Lago.”

“WFO has been drafting a Search Warrant affidavit related to these potential boxes, but has some concerns that the information is single source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated. DOJ CES [Counterintelligence and Export Control Section] opines, however, that the SWs [search warrants] meet the probable cause standard,” that memo read.

Over a month later, FBI agents raised more concerns, including about the legality of searching Trump’s personal residence at the Mar-a-Lago residence, the memos show.

“DOJ has inquired as to an Ops Plan for a SW of MAL [Mar-a-Lago]. I let them know we are not in agreement for PC [probable cause] on the SW [search warrant] and that we already had an Ops Plan in place that will [sic] can be quickly updated between FBI/MM [Miami Field Office] and FBI/WF [Washington Field Office],” a redacted FBI agent in the nation’s capital wrote in a July 12, 2022 email. “However, WF-[Redacted] does not believe we have PC for the 45 Office or the bedroom due to recency and issues of boxes versus classified information. Therefore, as we are in disagreement on the SW and its scope, we are not yet finalizing a SW as we are missing relevant logistics and details.”

Just the News obtained a copy of the memos after Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel declassified them and turned them over to Congress.

“Received shocking new docs 2day from DOJ & FBI showing FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres[ident] Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. “Based on the records, Mar-a-Lago raid was a miscarriage of justice.”

The emails were turned over to the Senate and House Judiciary committees, ahead of a planned deposition Wednesday from ex-special prosecutor Jack Smith, who inherited the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case just months after the August 2022 raid of Trump’s home that rocked the political world ahead of the 2024 election.

Keep reading

DOJ Sues Four States for Violating Federal Election Law

The Department of Justice announced Friday it has filed federal lawsuits against four states, which were all accused of election law violations.

According to a press release from the DOJ Office of Public Affairs, the suits target Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Nevada.

The department says the states failed to produce their statewide voter registration lists upon request.

The filings bring the Justice Department’s nationwide total of such lawsuits to 18, the release said.

In addition to the four states, the Civil Rights Division is suing officials in Fulton County, Georgia.

The lawsuit against Fulton County seeks records related to the 2020 election.

The DOJ said the actions are being handled by its Civil Rights Division.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon addressed the lawsuits in a statement.

Keep reading

John Lott Fires Back at Critics of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Defending 2A

Saying that gun rights are civil rights shouldn’t be controversial. After all, most of what we term as civil liberties are enshrined in the Bill of Rights, from freedom of speech and religion to protection against illegal search and seizure, and many others. The Second Amendment is smack dab in the middle of all of those. Saying the right to keep and bear arms is a civil right isn’t controversial; it’s obvious.

But some people can’t seem to wrap their gray matter around that.

Among them are some critics of the Department of Justice actually treating gun rights like civil rights, and John Lott has some words for those folks.

“The Civil Rights Division’s new focus on the Second Amendment, which is far outside its longstanding mission, is moving us even further away from our nation’s commitment to protecting all Americans’ civil rights,” said Stacey Young, a former division attorney who resigned shortly after the current administration took office.

The investigation into Los Angeles’ reluctance to grant concealed-carry permits has already drawn sharp criticism. “This is a gross misuse of the government’s civil rights enforcement authority,” said Christy Lopez, who served as deputy chief of the division under the Obama administration.

But poor black Americans — who face the highest risk of violent crime — gain the most from having the ability to protect themselves.

For women, the safest response when confronted by a criminal is to have a gun. Women who rely on passive behavior are 2.5 times more likely to suffer serious injury than women who use a firearm to defend themselves. Because criminals are overwhelmingly men, a woman attacked by a man faces a much larger strength imbalance than a man attacked by another man. A gun dramatically shifts that balance. It increases a woman’s ability to protect herself far more than it does for a man.

Background Check Errors Mostly Affect Blacks, Hispanics

Consider something as seemingly uncontroversial as background checks for gun purchases. Gun-control advocates often claim that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has stopped 5.1 million dangerous or prohibited people from buying guns since 1998. But more than 99 percent of these denials are false positives, and the errors fall disproportionately on law-abiding black and Hispanic men.

The impact of gun laws in general falls disproportionately on black and Hispanic men, even. And, in a world where people see disparity of outcomes as proof of racism, then maybe it’s time to re-evaluate all gun control laws.

Granted, I’m not someone who ascribes to that personally. I think it can be evidence of racism, but it’s not always. At least not directly, anyway.

Keep reading

DOJ Sues SIX More States for Withholding Voter Rolls — 14 States Now Targeted as Bondi and Dhillon Launch Aggressive Nationwide Crackdown

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced Tuesday that it has filed federal lawsuits against six additional states, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, for refusing to hand over their statewide voter registration lists, as required under federal law.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi, who has taken a dramatically tougher posture on election transparency than her predecessors, called the states’ stonewalling a direct threat to clean elections.

“Accurate voter rolls are the cornerstone of fair and free elections, and too many states have fallen into a pattern of noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

“The Department of Justice will continue filing proactive election integrity litigation until states comply with basic election safeguards.”

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon, who has led the most aggressive election-integrity enforcement push in modern DOJ history, went further, accusing noncompliant states of actively undermining public trust.

“Our federal elections laws ensure every American citizen may vote freely and fairly,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“States that continue to defy federal voting laws interfere with our mission of ensuring that Americans have accurate voter lists as they go to the polls, that every vote counts equally, and that all voters have confidence in election results. At this Department of Justice, we will not stand for this open defiance of federal civil rights laws.”

This latest wave of lawsuits brings the total number of states now facing DOJ litigation to fourteen.

Keep reading

Law firm representing alleged Epstein victims sends scathing letter over DOJ document release

When the House Oversight Committee released a trove of files and emails from the Epstein estate earlier this month, alleged victims of the convicted sex offender responded with “widespread panic” after learning the documents included dozens of unredacted victim names, prominent attorneys for Epstein victims told a federal judge this week.  

“I thought the government had promised to redact our names and identifying material. I don’t understand how this is happening again,” one alleged victim told attorneys Bradley Edwards and Brittany Henderson, with the Edwards Henderson law firm, according to a court filing Wednesday.  

“This type of negligence by the government to a survivor is just unable to comprehend. It is just impossible,” another alleged victim said, according to the filing. “I don’t understand how this is possible.” 

“I have been unable to mentally and emotionally function or sleep,” yet another alleged victim wrote, per the court filing. 

Keep reading

DOJ Employee Arrested, Booked on Terrorism and Evidence Tampering Charges For Doxxing Federal Agent

A DOJ employee was arrested and booked on terrorism and evidence tampering charges for doxxing a federal agent during a raid in Brownsville, Texas.

Karen Olvera De Leon, an employee with the US Attorney’s Office in Brownsville, appeared on a live stream of a federal raid on June 9.

A male joined the livestream and issued a death threat against one of the federal agents conducting a raid.

Another viewer of the livestream, later identified as Karen Olvera De Leon, doxxed the federal agent and provided his identity to the man issuing the death threat.

KRGV reported:

An employee with the United States Attorney’s Office in Brownsville was arraigned in connection with an online death threat against federal agents, according to a news release from Cameron County District Attorney’s Office.

Karen Olvera De Leon was booked on Thursday on charges of terrorism and tampering with or fabricating evidence, Cameron County jail records show.

According to the news release, Olvera De Leon’s arrest is linked to a June 9 federal enforcement operation conducted in Cameron County that bystanders filmed and livestreamed on social media.

“A male subject joined the chat and made an online death threat towards one of the federal agents involved in the operation,” the news release stated. “A viewer of the live stream commented providing the identity of the federal agent to the person making the threat.”

Olvera De Leon was identified as the viewer who provided the federal agent’s identity.

Jail records show Olvera De Leon was released on a $20,000 bond.

Keep reading

DOJ Renews Bid To Have Court Unseal Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Materials

The Department of Justice (DOJ) renewed its request on Nov. 24 to unseal grand jury materials related to the case of deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act last week.

In a motion filed to a U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, the DOJ said the Epstein Files Transparency Act—which President Donald Trump signed into law on Nov. 19—reflects the congressional intent to override grand jury secrecy.

“In the light of the Act’s clear mandate, the Court should authorize the Department of Justice to release the grand jury transcripts and exhibits and modify any preexisting protective orders that would otherwise prevent public disclosure by the Government of materials of which is required by the Act,” it stated.

The DOJ said it would make appropriate redactions to protect victims’ identities and other personal information. The law requires that any redactions be accompanied by a written explanation, which must be published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress.

It requested that the court issue an expedited ruling, as the Act requires the DOJ to release all unclassified records and investigative materials related to the case within 30 days.

In August, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman denied the DOJ’s bid to unseal the grand jury materials, ruling that officials had failed to provide sufficient justification for unsealing the files and citing potential safety risks to victims.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer on Aug. 11 denied a similar motion in Maxwell’s case, finding that granting the motion “would bloat the ‘special circumstances’ doctrine, which to date has warranted disclosure in only a tiny number of cases, all involving unique testimony by firsthand witnesses to events of obvious public or historical moment.”

After the Epstein files bill cleared the Senate, the DOJ filed a renewed motion on Nov. 21 to a U.S. District Court in Florida to unseal the grand jury materials, followed by a second filing in the Southern District of New York on Nov. 24.

Grand jury materials are typically kept private. Exceptions outlined in federal rules allow the unsealing of materials, and special circumstances, including public interest, can permit unsealing outside those exceptions.

Keep reading

DOJ sues California over in-state tuition, scholarships, subsidized loans for illegal immigrants

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against California over state laws that are “unconstitutionally” providing in-state tuition, scholarships and subsidized loans to illegal immigrants.

According to the DOJ’s lawsuit filed Thursday, California’s laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens by not offering them the same in-state tuition, scholarships and subsidized loans as illegal immigrants.

“California is illegally discriminating against American students and families by offering exclusive tuition benefits for non-citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “This marks our third lawsuit against California in one week — we will continue bringing litigation against California until the state ceases its flagrant disregard for federal law.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of California against the state of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), state Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), and the Regents of the University of California, the Board of Trustees of the California State University, and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.

The DOJ has filed similar lawsuits in other states, including Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas, The Hill news outlet reported.

“The DOJ has now filed three meritless, politically motivated lawsuits against California in a single week. Good luck, Trump. We’ll see you in court,” a spokesperson for Newsom said.

Keep reading

DOJ’s Salacious Distraction: The REAL Epstein Intel Is Locked in Langley!

On today’s explosive episode of Stinchfield, Grant lays out a disturbing truth the media refuses to touch: the Department of Justice is about to give us the saucy, click-bait Epstein files.  The tabloid junk meant to distract the public.

But the real intel, the real power, the real dirt isn’t sitting at DOJ at all. It’s buried deep inside the State Department and the CIA, locked away in vaults we will likely never be allowed to see.

Grant walks you through his conclusion: Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t just some rogue pervert with a private island — he was paid hundreds of millions of dollars as a foreign agent working for the United States government.

His mission?A two-pronged operation: • Blackmail high-profile individuals across business, academia, and politics • Gather intelligence on wealthy foreign leaders, especially throughout the Middle East

It was a covert influence network so valuable that the deepest parts of our intel community will do anything to keep it sealed. Epstein wasn’t just connected — he was useful, and that’s why the truth remains hidden behind layers of classified protection.

Today, Grant exposes the government’s strategy, the motives behind the limited “document dump,” and why the State Department and CIA remain the final black boxes in the Epstein saga.

Keep reading