Tag: doj

DOJ Investigating Suspicious Iran War Oil Trading Trend: Report

Ups and downs in the war with Iran may have been an opportunity for insiders betting on oil prices to make a killing, according to a new report.

The report from ABC News said the Department of Justice is taking a close look at several oil market trades that came just before critical moments in the war with Iran.

In four transactions under review, the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are examining trades that netted more than $2.6 billion to individuals who bet oil prices would drop immediately before they did so.

From the start of the conflict on Feb. 28, the oil market has been up and down depending upon Iran’s strategy, America’s response, and expectations that oil might again flow freely.

The London Stock Exchange Group highlighted the trades, which began on March 23, when 15 minutes before President Donald Trump announced a delay on attacks against Iranian infrastructure, a $500 million bet was placed that oil prices would dip.

On April 7, only hours ahead of Trump’s announcement of a temporary halt in hostilities, a $960 million bet was placed that oil prices would fall.

On April 17, 20 minutes before Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would be opened, a $760 million bet was placed that oil prices were going to drop.

On April 21, 15 minutes before the ceasefire was extended, $430 million worth of bets was placed predicting oil prices were going down.

The Guardian noted last month that the conflict has been accompanied by unprecedented betting on events through online betting platforms, with many bets being precisely timed to events in the war.

For example, according to one complaint before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, six so-called insiders reaped $1.2 million from betting when former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be killed.

Reining this in through legislation is a complex task, if it can be done at all, one expert said.

“Is the problem that we don’t have legislation or that we don’t have enforcement capabilities?” Joshua Mitts, a law professor at Columbia University, said.

“To have a law that can’t really be enforced effectively given the technological limitations, it’s sort of putting the cart before the horse,” he said.

The oil price bets appear suspicious, another expert said.

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DOJ Challenges Denver’s ‘Assault Weapon’ Ban and Colorado’s Magazine Limit

The Department of Justice this week filed two Second Amendment lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, challenging that state’s ban on “large capacity” magazines and Denver’s ban on “assault weapons.” Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general in charge of the department’s Civil Rights Division, argues that both laws are unconstitutional for the same reason: They ban arms in common use for lawful purposes, which the Supreme Court has said are covered by the Second Amendment, and there is no “historical tradition” that would justify such a policy, as required by the Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

“The Constitution is not a suggestion and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday after the lawsuit against Denver was filed. “Denver’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms. This Department of Justice will vigorously defend the liberties of law-abiding citizens nationwide.”

Denver’s ordinance was enacted in 1989, the same year that California became the first state to ban so-called assault weapons, a politically defined category that typically hinges on arbitrarily disfavored rifle features such as pistol grips, folding stocks, and flash suppressors. But Denver’s ordinance, which prohibits the sale, transfer, or possession of “assault weapons” within city limits, defines the term to include any semi-automatic pistol or center-fire rifle with a fixed or detachable magazine that holds more than 15 rounds. It therefore covers many of the most popular guns sold in the United States when they are equipped with standard-issue magazines, including AR-15-style rifles.

The complaint in United States v. Denver notes that “the term ‘assault weapon’ is not a technical term used in the firearms industry” but rather “a rhetorically charged political term developed by anti-gun publicists.” It adds that the guns banned in Denver “include ordinary semiautomatic rifles possessed by millions of law-abiding Americans.” For example, “Americans own literally tens of millions of AR-15 style rifles, the paradigmatic ‘assault weapon’ covered by the Ordinance.” In a case decided last year, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan noted that “the AR–15 is the most popular rifle in the country.”

In January, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun industry’s trade association, reported that Americans own more than 32 million “modern sporting rifles,” the industry’s preferred term for the rifles usually covered by “assault weapon” bans. Survey data suggest that somewhere between 16 million and 25 million Americans have owned AR-15-style rifles. They commonly report using them for lawful purposes such as self-defense, hunting, and target shooting.

Such rifles are rarely used by criminals. In 2019, according to FBI data, “only 364 homicides were known to have been committed with rifles of any type, compared
to 6,368 with handguns, 1,476 with knives or other cutting instruments, 600 with personal weapons (hands, feet, etc.) and 397 with blunt objects,” Dhillon notes.

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Barack Obama Complains About ‘Politicization’ of DOJ — Then Encourages Stephen Colbert to Run For President!

Former President Barack Obama is complaining about the “politicization” of the Department of Justice, a topic about which he himself is very well versed.

During his pre-recorded appearance on the soon-to-be-canceled Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Obama went after Trump for allegedly targeting his enemies via the DOJ.

“We can’t overcome the politicization of our justice system, the awesome power of the state,” Obama complained.

“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the Attorney General to go around prosecuting whoever the president wants prosecuted.

”The AG is the people’s lawyer, it’s not the president’s consigliere.”

“You can’t have a situation in which whoever is in charge of the government starts using that to go after their political enemies or reward their friends.”

This is particularly ironic given the Obama and Biden DOJ’s extensive record of targeting conservatives and their political opponents, most notably in the wake of the January 6th protests.

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DOJ Issues Grand Jury Subpoenas For ALL 2020 Election Workers Records from Fulton County

On April 17, 2026, a grand jury issued a subpoena to the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections (BRE) to appear in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Georgia on May 5, 2026.

Department of Justice prosecutors obtain a grand jury subpoena by preparing it in connection with an active grand jury investigation and issuing it under the grand jury’s authority.

In this case, the subpoena requests that the Fulton County BRE bring specific documents and electronically stored information.  That information includes information regarding election staff/members who served in the November 2020 General Election.  The records must identify their name, position/function, residential and email addresses, and personal telephone numbers.

The records include those who were performing the following functions and duties:

  • Individuals assigned to review Mail-In Ballots
  • Individuals assigned to the Voter Review Panel/Board
  • Individuals assigned to Mobile Voting Locations
  • Individuals assigned to transfer results to or from media or transport ballots, ballot stock, or media
  • Individuals employed or contracted by the Fulton Board of Registrations and Elections
  • Individuals who worked or volunteered for the Risk Limiting Audit
  • Individuals who worked or volunteered for the Recount
  • Individuals who served as precinct managers and assistant managers

Many of these individuals could potentially have pertinent information about numerous anomalies uncovered over the last several years.  The Gateway Pundit has previously reported that Fulton County did not properly perform signature verification on mail-in ballots in Fulton County, according to testimony under oath from then-Fulton County BRE member Mark Wingate during the disbarment hearing for former Deputy Attorney General Jeff Clark.

Wingate also testified that he was prevented from viewing chain of custody documents prior to certifying the 2020 election.  Both issues could potentially be explored with the above witnesses.

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Sen. Rand Paul Calls Out DOJ — Warns Agency Has Only ONE WEEK LEFT to Charge Fauci For Lying to Congress About Gain-of-Function

Senator Rand Paul just fired a direct shot across the bow of the Department of Justice.

In a blistering post on X, Paul declared that the DOJ has ONE WEEK left to finally charge Former NIAID chief Dr. Anthony Fauci Dr. Anthony Fauci for lying to Congress about funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Here’s what Paul wrote:

“The DOJ has ONE WEEK left to charge Anthony Fauci for the worst cover-up in modern medical history. He lied to Congress about funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan. Millions died. Trillions were spent. And Fauci walked away with book deals and fawning media coverage instead of handcuffs. I re-upped my criminal referral to the DOJ because the evidence is overwhelming, and justice has been delayed long enough.”

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Justice Dept says it will enforce SCOTUS ruling in every state with racially gerrymandered districts

nited States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said Thursday that the Justice Department will enforce the Supreme Court’s decision on gerrymandering districts in every state that has such a district.

The Supreme Court struck down two congressional maps in Louisiana Wednesday, ruling the state was unconstitutionally racially gerrymandering when it added a second majority black district. Louisiana redrew the maps in 2024 after a lower court ruled previous maps likely violated the Voting Rights Act because it did not include the second majority black district.

Missouri GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt asked the Justice Department earlier Thursday to enforce the Supreme Court ruling nationwide, noting it had the power to do so. 

“Senator — we are ON IT!” Dhillon replied on X. “The [Justice Department] under [Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche] continues to prioritize equal protection of the laws for ALL Americans, be it in employment, housing, education — and voting.” 

The commitment comes as 45 redistricting disputes remain unresolved in federal and state courts, casting a cloud of legal uncertainty over the fight for control of the U.S. House of Representatives this November. 

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DOJ Launches Investigations Into 36 Illinois School Districts for Secretly Pushing Transgender Ideology and Gender Transitions on Kids Behind Parents’ Backs

The Department of Justice has launched sweeping civil rights investigations into 36 Illinois public school districts accused of pushing transgender ideology on students from pre-K through 12th grade.

The federal probe, announced by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on Thursday, is also looking into whether these districts are allowing biological males into girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams, which would be a direct violation of Title IX and basic child safety.

The DOJ said it will be investigating whether the schools are promoting sexual orientation and gender ideology to students, and if they notified parents to allow them to opt out.

“The investigations will examine whether these Illinois School Districts, which are recipients of hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funding, are adhering to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Supreme Court’s extensive precedents on parental rights as recently reiterated in Mirabelli v. Bonta and Mahmoud v. Taylor,” the DOJ explained in a press release.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a press release, “This Department of Justice is determined to put an end to local school authorities keeping parents in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are being pushed in classrooms.”

“Supreme Court precedent leaves no doubt: parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children. This includes exempting their children from ideological instruction that contradicts their values or decisions about their children’s health and best interests,” Dhillon added.

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Trump DOJ Closes SF Asylum Factory That Approved Cases at 4X National Rate

The federal government closed the San Francisco Immigration Court at 100 Montgomery Street ahead of schedule, leaving thousands of immigration cases in transition and prompting concerns among legal advocates about delays and confusion.

The closure, which took effect prior to the originally planned timeline, impacts a court widely considered a central hub for immigration proceedings in the United States.

During the court’s final hours of operation, only one individual remained in line for services as operations concluded.

Legal experts and advocates say the shutdown places approximately 15,000 cases in uncertainty within San Francisco alone.

Bill Hing, a professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, described the scope of the impact.

“We are talking about 15,000 cases that are in limbo in San Francisco. It’s a major hub of immigration in the U.S. Many people who are applying for asylum come to San Francisco, come to the Bay Area, and this is major blow for them,” Hing said.

Ahead of the May 1 closure, the Department of Justice dismissed at least 20 of the court’s 22 immigration judges.

One of those judges, Jeremiah Johnson, spoke publicly in December about his termination.

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IRS weaponized Johnson Amendment to target conservative pastors while ignoring liberals, DOJ finds

Anew report released Thursday by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias reveals what investigators describe as a “stark contrast” and a systemic double standard in how the Biden Internal Revenue Service policed American churches. 

“The Biden IRS … [opened] multiple investigations into Christian churches focused on the content of their sermons. The IRS asked these churches for detailed information about their operations, not just about the alleged violations,” the task force wrote. 

“But during the same time, when other houses of worship gave sermons that reflected different scriptural interpretations on culture war issues, or prayed for Democrat candidates, the Biden IRS appeared to take no action,” the group added.

The task force, which was established by President Donald Trump in an executive order last year, reviewed internal administration discussions, case files and prosecutorial decisions from the Biden administration across 17 federal agencies. 

Beyond the IRS’s apparent targeting of conservative Christian churches, the task force concluded that the Biden administration’s prosecution strategy, internal policies and practices demonstrated an overall anti-Christian bias that permeated throughout the federal government during that period.  

“No American should live in fear that the federal government will punish them for their faith,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who chaired the task force. “As our report lays out, the Biden Administration’s actions devastated the lives of many Christian Americans. That devastation ended with President Trump.” 

The task force determined that the Biden administration used the Johnson Amendment – a 1954 provision added to the tax code which prohibits 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates – to probe churches that hold traditional Christian teachings, arguing those positions amounted to political support for Republican candidates. 

Though the amendment, in theory, limits what pastors whose churches have 501(c)3 nonprofit status can say in evaluating candidates running for political office, it has only been “sporadically enforced,” according to the Justice Department.

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DOJ Targets Blue State for Giving Illegals Financial Assistance While Neglecting U.S. Citizens

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to scrap New Jersey rules allowing illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public colleges, even though Americans living outside of New Jersey are charged higher tuition.

“Imagine being denied the opportunity of education in your own country,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said, according to a Department of Justice news release.

“By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, the state of New Jersey is doing just that,” he said.

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division added that “this is a simple matter of federal law: in New Jersey and nationwide, colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens.”

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