Tag: doj

Justice Department ‘Should Take About 20 Years’ To Reschedule Marijuana, GOP Congressman Says

The Justice Department should “take about 20 years” to finish the marijuana rescheduling process, a GOP congressman who staunchly opposes cannabis reform tells Marijuana Moment.

With the proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) still pending, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) is in no rush to have DOJ see the process through—despite President Donald Trump’s December executive order directing the attorney general to quickly finalize the rule.

“Last I looked, it hasn’t been rescheduled. The president said to look into it,” Harris said in an interview on Thursday, adding that he hasn’t directly communicated with the Justice Department about the issue but that “everybody understands what I want it to look like.”

“I don’t think I’ve been subtle about it,” Harris said. “All I know is every day that goes by and it’s not rescheduled is another good day.”

The prohibitionist congressman said he isn’t sure if internal disagreements within DOJ are to blame for the delayed rescheduling action, but “the wheels grind a little slowly around here sometimes.”

“On this one, they should take about 20 years to grind,” he said.

In December, Harris separately said Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally reschedule marijuana via executive order. But while lawmakers could overrule any administrative move to enact the reform, it would be a “heavy lift” in the Republican-controlled Congress, he acknowledged.

For what it’s worth, the congressman may be at risk of being unseated in November due to redistricting in his state.

The Maryland House of Delegates earlier this month approved a congressional redistricting proposal that would leave anti-cannabis Harris especially vulnerable in the next election, according to analysts, giving Democrats an advantage in the state’s first congressional district for the first time since the last map was drawn in 2011. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will follow the House’s lead to pass the legislation, however.

Meanwhile, another GOP lawmaker on the other side of the debate, Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), recently told Marijuana Moment that while marijuana rescheduling might not be at the top of the agenda for the Justice Department or White House amid competing interests, he and bipartisan colleagues will be ready when “opportunity does present itself.”

Joyce separately said last month that he doesn’t think the attorney general would seek to undermine the president’s executive order to move marijuana to Schedule III despite any personal reservations she may have about the policy change.

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The Justice Department’s shameful record in the Epstein scandal

More than 30 years have passed since the first public allegation that Jeffrey Epstein assaulted and trafficked children and young women for sex. A civil complaint said he repeatedly abused a 13-year-old girl beginning in 1994.

Five presidential administrations later, Epstein’s victims include more than 1,000 women, many of them children when he and his accused companions abused them. Yet, largely due to repeated failures by the Justice Department, most perpetrators remain unidentified and unpunished. The nation’s highest law enforcement agency has prolonged the victims’ abuse by denying them justice. 

The department’s failures continue today. It can no longer be trusted to deliver justice “without fear or favor.” Congress must intervene more decisively. A brief history will explain why. 

In 1996, Maria Farmer told the FBI that Epstein had assaulted her and her minor sister. The bureau took no visible action.

In 2008, Epstein faced a possible life sentence for 32 counts alleging that at least 40 underage girls were brought to his Palm Beach mansion for sex. Prosecutors said many victims were willing to testify but never had the opportunity. The case did not go to trial because U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta secretly crafted a deal allowing Epstein to plead guilty to two lesser charges.

Epstein served only 13 months in a Florida jail. He was given unusual privileges, including work  release for 12 hours a day, six days a week. Investigators said he regularly violated the rules of the work-release program without punishment. In addition, the deal included a controversial non-prosecution agreement that gave Epstein and his co-conspirators immunity from further state or federal prosecution for those crimes. 

In 2017, Trump appointed Acosta as secretary of Labor. He resigned in 2019 over the plea bargain controversy. In 2020, the Justice Department reviewed the plea bargain and concluded that Acosta used poor judgment but did nothing improper.

In 2019, Epstein was arrested and jailed on new sex trafficking charges. While awaiting trial, he was found dead in his cell. Despite protocol violations and missing security footage at the jail, the Justice Department ruled that Epstein had committed suicide.  

The latest controversy involves 6 million Justice Department documents related to the Epstein case. Although evidence and Epstein’s victims allege his involvement in an international sex trafficking operation, the FBI and Justice Department issued a memo last July saying that they planned no further charges and no further information on their investigations of Epstein. 

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Yale University SUSPENDS Prof. David Gelernter After Trump DOJ Exposes His Ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Yale University has removed longtime computer science professor David Gelernter from teaching duties after newly released Department of Justice documents tied him to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, years after Epstein had already pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

The bombshell revelations emerged from the massive January 2026 DOJ document dump made possible under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in November 2025, which forced the federal government to release millions of pages of Epstein-related communications.

Among the millions of pages published were years of email correspondence between Gelernter and Jeffrey Epstein, spanning 2009 to 2015.

In one message from October 2011, years after Epstein’s conviction in Florida for soliciting a minor, the professor recommended a Yale undergraduate for a position to Epstein, describing her unambiguously in terms of looks as “a v small good-looking blonde.”

Gelernter defended the note to Yale administration as keeping “the potential boss’s habits in mind,” but university officials found the explanation unacceptable and removed him from teaching duties pending review.

In a defiantly unapologetic email to Yale Dean Jeffrey Brock, which Gelernter subsequently leaked to the Yale Daily News, he defended the description.

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DOJ Officials Claim Thomas Massie Just Made an Unbelievable Error

Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna may have gotten themselves into hot water after falsely accusing four men of being tied to the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein in front of Congress.

The pair claimed that four names, which the Department of Justice redacted in the release of the files, were “powerful men” engaged in connected to Epstein, but those men were simply randomly selected for a police line up and had zero real connection to the case.

Massive and Khanna claim that the fault in the false accusations lies with Department of Justice officials, stating that the DOJ “illegally redacted names without explanation and then refused to give context for the names once they redacted.”

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The Department of Justice under Trump Expands Federal Proceedings to Revoke Citizenship from Naturalized Foreign Nationals Who Concealed Crimes or Committed Immigration Fraud

The administration of President Donald Trump has decided to intensify legal procedures aimed at revoking U.S. citizenship from foreign-born individuals who obtained it through fraud, deliberate concealment of relevant information, or ties to serious criminal activity.

The measure, confirmed by the Department of Justice, is part of the broader immigration enforcement strategy advanced by the White House and reinforces the priority placed on national security and strict compliance with federal law.

Under current legislation, U.S. citizenship may be revoked if it is proven before a federal court that it was obtained through material misrepresentation or deception. This is not a new legal mechanism.

Denaturalization has historically been used in cases involving war crimes, terrorism, or proven immigration fraud. What changes now is the operational scope: additional resources, greater coordination among federal agencies, and a clear prioritization of these proceedings within the administration’s immigration strategy.

Who could be affected? Naturalized citizens who, during their application process, concealed criminal records, affiliations with criminal organizations, or substantial information that would have prevented the granting of citizenship.

What is being expanded specifically? Investigative capacity and the number of federal prosecutors dedicated exclusively to these cases.

When does it take effect? Immediately, as it is an internal administrative directive.

Where will it be enforced? In federal courts across the country.

Why now? Because the administration maintains that immigration fraud cannot go unpunished and that public trust in the system requires clear consequences.

How will it be carried out? Through civil lawsuits in which the government must present solid evidence before a federal judge.

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Epstein’s Wiki Page Was ‘Hacked’ In Failed Attempt To Remove ‘Sex Offender,’ Files Show

Jeffrey Epstein’s Wikipedia page was edited in 2010 to remove references to his status as a sex offender and a mugshot, an email released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) shows.

In an email to Epstein dated Nov. 6, 2010, an individual going by the name “Al Seckel” wrote that Wikipedia had “all sorts of protections” around his mug shot taken in 2006 by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

“They have all sorts of protection around your ‘mug shot’ picture on wiki, and so, we are hacking wiki now to remove it and replace it with the photo that you sent, which will have the headline: Jeffrey Epstein, businessman, philanthropist,” wrote the message’s sender, who was in email correspondence with Epstein in 2010, according to the files.

“BTW, we also took you out in the sex offender category, and removed the headline in beginning sentence from wiki that also stated ‘sex offender,’” the email continued. “And, now it just reads businessman, philanthropist.”

The Wikipedia page’s edit history reveals an edit made the day before the email was sent which removed the category “American sex offenders.” The edit was reverted minutes later, and a user stated “There is a cited reliable source for his sex offender status.”

The author of the email also claims to have “recorded the ip addresses” of individuals reverting their edits, stating that they “actually hacked the site to block them back in.”

The same IP address made 27 changes between late October and late November 2010, many of which were made within minutes of each other, often removing mentions of Epstein’s entry in the Florida Sex Offender Registry and the experiences of children on his island.

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Two men charged in $120M adult day care fraud scheme in Queens 

The Justice Department accused two men of stealing $120 million from federal health care programs over the course of a decade by bribing patients to enroll in social adult day cares and submit unneeded prescriptions to a pharmacy.

Inwoo Kim, 42, and Daniel Lee, 56, were charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. They each face up to 10 years in prison. 

“Today’s complaint targets those who prey upon the vulnerable so they can steal from American taxpayers and defraud government programs meant to help the public,” A. Tysen Duva, who leads the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a Monday statement. 

Kim owns Happy Life and Royal, two social adult day cares in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Lee worked as the centers’ program director. 

Charging documents allege the duo began working to submit fraudulent Medicaid and Medicare claims as far back as March 2016. They also purportedly induced patients to submit unneeded prescriptions to a pharmacy Kim used to own.

Patients allegedly received financial incentives, including grocery gift certificates and cash. 

“Please give $10,000 to the Korean members first,” Kim wrote in a 2023 text message, according to the complaint.

Over the course of a decade, Medicaid purportedly paid Kim’s businesses $62 million for their social day care services while Medicare paid the pharmacy $58 million for prescription drugs. 

Kim’s attorney declined to comment. The Hill has reached out to Lee’s attorney for comment.

Kim has faced scrutiny for years. The Department of Health and Human Services has been investigating him since 2021, and the charging documents also indicate an unnamed health plan had received complaints about the kickbacks. 

And in February 2024, New York’s Office of State Comptroller (OSC) identified concerns during a site visit. Day care staff had provided “suspicious” sign-in sheets that appeared to include pre-filled dates and the same handwriting for numerous names, according to the charging documents. 

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Buried in DOJ Files: Epstein Was a Fixer for Rothschild Banking Dynasty

By the summer of 2016, Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t just a well-heeled fixture working the back rooms in the corridors of power—he was a screaming red flag, a multiple convicted sex offender whose dodgy 2008 plea deal for procuring underage girls had already damaged his brand across elite political and financial circles. But not all elite circles. In fact, he was still a go-to partner for the very highest echelons of global power. While digging deeper into the voluminous Epstein Files, a stunning email emerged— to one of Europe’s most formidable bankers, Ariane de Rothschild, the steely head of the Edmond de Rothschild Group. Jeffrey was laying out fiduciary advice as if he were her personal oracle. This correspondence wasn’t the sterile back-and-forth of distant professionals. Rather, it was more like old confidants navigating a epic storm together.

On July 20, 2016, Epstein fired off a link to an article about the erupting 1MDB scandal in Malaysia, where billions had been siphoned from the sovereign wealth fund into a vortex of luxury yachts, Hollywood films, and shadowy international bank accounts. He didn’t just share the news—he provided her with a link to a New York Times article about the 1MDB scandal, before dispensing advice, warning her how American prosecutors might scrutinise her every move in relation to this massive scandal.

Ariane, typing from Luxembourg amid a tense board meeting with lawyers, shot back with raw urgency: “If I don’t go, I die. What do DOJ guys prefer?”(EFTA02456252). It was the cry of a woman cornered, turning not to her army of high-priced attorneys but to a man whose own history reeked of exploitation and evasion.

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DOJ limits congressional review of Epstein records to publicly released files

Lawmakers set to review unredacted Jeffrey Epstein records at the Justice Department beginning Monday will be allowed to examine only documents that have already been released to the public, not the full universe of Epstein-related materials the department has identified, according to Justice Department correspondence and congressional aides.

In a Jan. 30 letter to Congress, the Justice Department said it identified more than 6 million pages as potentially responsive to the Epstein Files Transparency Act but has released roughly 3.5 million pages in total, including about 3 million pages disclosed last week. The department said the remaining materials were duplicative, non-responsive, privileged, sealed by court order, or otherwise protected from disclosure.

Under the review process announced Friday, members of Congress may view unredacted versions of the publicly released documents in person at Justice Department headquarters. The arrangement does not provide access to materials outside the public release, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

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Statement announcing Jeffrey Epstein’s death emerges from files… but it’s dated a day before he killed himself

A federal statement announcing Jeffrey Epstein‘s death has surfaced in newly released Justice Department files but it carries a date that appears to precede the moment he was officially found dead inside his New York prison cell.

The document, issued by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and dated Friday, August 9, 2019, states that Epstein had already been found unresponsive and pronounced dead.

But prison records and official accounts show Epstein was not discovered unresponsive until the morning of August 10, 2019, when a corrections officer delivering breakfast found him in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

In the statement, then–Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: ‘Earlier this morning, the Manhattan Correctional Center confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein, who faced charges brought by this Office of engaging in the sex trafficking of minors, had been found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead shortly thereafter. 

‘Today’s events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein’s many victims their day in Court. 

‘To those brave young women who have already come forward and to the many others who have yet to do so, let me reiterate that we remain committed to standing for you, and our investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment.’

Epstein, 66, had been held at the Manhattan jail since his arrest on July 6, 2019, after federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking minors and conspiracy. 

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