The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its plans to spend at least $1 million on a new center for so-called “two-spirit” youth, as part of its broader commitments to the LGBTQ agenda during “pride month.”
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After Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) joined more than 120 lawmakers in sending a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) demanding an investigation into violence against pro-life groups, the DOJ responded with silence.
“More than seven weeks ago, we woke up to headlines that the Supreme Court of the United States would likely overturn Roe v. Wade,” Rose said Thursday in a speech on the floor of the U.S. House. “I believe the leaker broke federal law in an effort to change the High Court’s ruling.”
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In a pre-dawn raid Wednesday, armed federal law enforcement agents searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump Justice Department official who has emerged as a central figure in the partisan House Select Committee’s investigation into the January 6 riot.
Clark’s name was expected to come up in the Jan. 6 Committee hearing on Thursday.
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Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) and more than 120 other Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to respond to multiple attacks on pro-life groups across the country.
The events have followed the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that signaled the group favors reversing Roe v. Wade.
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A statement that appears to be from the violent pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge was posted online Tuesday, saying “the leash is off” for attacks on pro-life operations and declaring violence until pro-life groups shut down.
The statement was posted to Abolition Media, an “online news source for revolutionary movements,” and promised violent attacks on pro-life organizations such as crisis pregnancy centers.
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The Alliance for Free Citizens, a education-focused advocacy group, denounced a reported plan by President Joe Biden’s Department of Education to create the “National Parents and Families Engagement Council.”
According to a report from Fox News, the new organization will work to improve the relationship between parents and schools.
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Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-WI-07) called on the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice to take action to limit crime in Wisconsin and across the country.
According to a letter from Tiffany and six other letters, the federal government may need to “pick up the slack” from local prosecutors that are refusing to try certain cases or are reducing recommended sentences.
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Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is one of 16 Republican senators who joined in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Tuesday that calls for federal law enforcement to investigate acts of violence against organizations working to protect the unborn and to prevent future acts.
The letter follows one written by Johnson in May to Garland, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in which the senator asked the federal officials why the violent attack on the Wisconsin Family Action office in Madison has not been identified as an act of “domestic terrorism.”
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Arizona’s Yuma Sector Tuesday announced that it apprehended more than 30 illegal aliens who were attempting to be smuggled into the United States in one van.
“U.S. Border Patrol intelligence agents intercepted a smuggling attempt after National Guard members witnessed multiple suspected migrants load into a van Friday morning,” said Chris T. Clem, Chief Patrol Agent at the Yuma Sector. “Agents discovered 33 migrants inside the van. The U.S. driver and Mex[ican] passenger[s] were arrested.”
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According to a May report released by the Department of Justice (DOJ), of the total federal arrests made in Fiscal Year 2020, a full 56 percent of them were made in federal judicial districts at the U.S. southern border.
A significant portion of those arrests – 13.6 percent – were made in Arizona.
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The Buckhead Public Safety Task Force (Legislative Reference No. 22-R-3001) issued its final report on Friday, with recommendations and a plan to curb crime in the northernmost Atlanta district, wherein the city stated a new police precinct will open up in June.
“Task Force participants were able to hear from a broad spectrum of public safety stakeholders, and I look forward to seeing that expertise translated into a meaningful action plan,” said District 7 Council member Howard Shook.
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Three property owners in Atlanta agreed to pay thousands of dollars in order to settle allegations of racial discrimination from the Department of Justice.
Crimson Management LLC, Benefield Housing Partnership, and Cedartown Housing Associates will pay $83,000 to three individuals who formerly resided in their housing complex for potential violations of the Fair Housing Act, in addition to a civil penalty to the government.
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The Elijah Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, D.C. is center stage this month to two competing tales of stolen presidential elections.
In the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, federal prosecutors have presented a detailed account of the greatest scandal in U.S. political history: the conspiracy of the country’s most powerful interests to fabricate the Trump-Russia collusion hoax in order to sabotage Donald Trump before the 2016 election.
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Three Florida residents were sentenced to federal prison for their role in a fraud scheme involving baby formula and other items, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Johnny Grobman, Raoul Doekhie, and Sherida Nabi were given an 18-month prison sentence for cheating manufacturers out of at least $100 million.
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Connecticut’s two U.S. senators, both Democrats, are urging passage of a bill that they say will help prevent incidents similar to the recent Buffalo mass shooting, though it actually narrows rather than expands federal anti-terrorism concerns.
At a press conference on Friday, senior Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022 a “chance to take a stand and an opportunity to send a message to the hate mongers that enough is enough.”
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A Philadelphia-area public school finance director was sentenced to more than a year in prison after he embezzled $100,000 from a school district over a seven-year period.
Christopher Gehris, an employee in the Phoenixville Area School District and its finance director since 2018, stole $94,613 from the district, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) and local leaders in West Tennessee are working together in order to reduce violent crime, according to a release from the DOJ.
United States Attorney Joseph C. Murphy Jr., joined by non-profit organizations, clergy leaders, and other community leaders, announced a new “Better Community Summit” effort to tackle the crimes.
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On Thursday, two of Joe Biden’s Cabinet members announced plans to create a new division within the Department of Justice that will focus on fighting for “environmental justice.”
As reported by Fox News, the joint announcement was made by Attorney General Merrick Garland and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan. The new Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) will serve as a “central hub” for a “comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy,” and will soon lay out a “series of actions” that will be taken in order to ostensibly “secure environmental justice for all Americans.”
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A federal grand jury found a professor at a public university guilty on espionage charges Wednesday, according to court records.
The jury found Mingqing Xiao, a math professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), guilty on four counts related to filing false tax statements, according to records from The Southern District of Illinois United States District Court.
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After losing in court and receiving a nationwide injunction against the institution of the mask mandate, the Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had a decision to make: accept the court’s decision and move on to other means to combat Covid-19 without resorting to mask mandates; try to start from scratch and put a mask mandate rule in place that might conform better with statutory requirements; or appeal the case.
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A dozen individuals have been charged in a gun-running conspiracy that funneled firearms from Tennessee and Kentucky to Chicago, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In total, the 12 individuals are facing a 21-count indictment with charges for dealing in firearms without a license, transporting and receiving firearms into another state, making false statements to a federally licensed firearm dealer, and multiple other offenses.
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A scammer that targeted elderly victims has been arrested and indicted for his alleged role in a fraud scheme that stole roughly $300 million.
According to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Abdou Diallo, a Canadian resident, was at the center of an international telemarketing fraud scheme.
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Three Georgia men were sentenced to federal prison for their role in a human trafficking scheme that forced individuals to work on farms in the state.
According to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the three men all plead guilty to various offenses related to the trafficking network.
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The Biden administration released documents Thursday that endorse children and adolescents with claims of gender dysphoria to experience “gender-affirming care,” including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and body-mutilating transgender surgeries, including elective double mastectomies and castrations.
Biden appeared in a video endorsing transgender treatments and surgeries for children.
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Jianjie Liu, a Chinese national arrested in Georgia in 2019, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, amid an indictment that included money laundering conspiracy, nine counts of money laundering, and access device fraud charges
According to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Liu targeted victims in several states, raking in more than $150,000 in various schemes.
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A Canadian man, extradited to Florida, faces a host of charges related to his connection to cyberattacks utilizing a ransomware known as “NetWalker.”
Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins is facing indictments for conspiracy to commit computer fraud and wire fraud and intentional damage to a protected computer, in connection to the ransomware that has been used to attack businesses, hospitals, schools, emergency response services, and other organizations.
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Fourteen Republican attorneys general, led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, have sued the Biden administration for not responding to a Freedom of Information request related to the Department of Justice calling for surveillance of parents expressing opinions at school board meetings and other forums.
The lawsuit follows a chain of events that began last October.
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Bipartisan members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday requesting an investigation into Amazon for alleged criminal obstruction of the committee’s probe into the tech giant.
The letter, sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, alleged Amazon misled committee members and engaged in “potentially criminal conduct” during a 15-month investigation into competition in digital markets. The letter was signed by House Judiciary Committee Chair Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, Democratic Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, Republican Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
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A joint federal and local law enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, recently led to the largest single seizure of fentanyl in the state’s history, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The March 1 seizure included around 150,000 counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and 20 pounds of suspected bulk fentanyl, the DOJ said in a press release. The contraband reportedly had an estimated street value of around $4 million.
The drugs were confiscated as a result of the arrest of four drug traffickers, the DOJ said. The ringleader of the group, Ufrano Orozco Munoz, 27, was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to traffic fentanyl from Mexico and other areas for distribution and sale in Oregon.
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the termination of the China Initiative Wednesday citing agreement with Asian-American groups critical of the anti-espionage strategy.
While announcing the termination of the China Initiative Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen launched the Strategy for Countering Nation-State Threats, a program aimed to counter espionage stemming from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In addition to the high-profile December 2021 conviction of Harvard nanotechnology professor Charles Lieber, the Department of Justice website lists eight examples of successful 2021 China Initiative cases, which include crimes such as the theft of GE trade secrets, misleading global financial institutions, lying on government grant applications, illegally exporting $100,000 of U.S. goods to a Chinese military university, economic espionage against Coca-Cola, two cases involving the theft of trade secrets related to pediatric medical conditions and the illegal exportation of cesium atomic clocks.
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A Middle Tennessee man was charged in a million dollar investment scheme aimed to defraud unsuspecting investors, the Department of Justice said in a recent press release.
The Hendersonville man who also lived in Gallatin – known as Gregory Michael Vogel and Gregory Michael Schneider – was charged on eight counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in relation to an investment scheme.
According to the statement, Vogel was arrested Wednesday morning by federal agents after a join investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
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An Ohio woman pleaded guilty to charges related to her role in a fraudulent adoption scheme, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
According to the original indictment, Margaret Cole, a 74-year-old woman, ran an international adoption agency based in Strongsville, Ohio.
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The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) announced that it would receive about $3 million in grants from the Department of Justice to help victims of crime.
One grant the office will receive will help the office in investigations where DNA is used to find perpetrators in cold cases where it cannot find the offender. Another grant will pertain to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (often referred to as SAKI). It allows law enforcement to process rape kits quicker.
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At least eight of Joe Biden’s nominations for the Department of Justice have been placed on hold by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), due to the Department’s failure to answer Cotton’s questions about its inaction over the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.
As reported by Fox News, Cotton’s criticisms have focused specifically on the DOJ’s failure to properly defend a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, which ended up under siege by far-left domestic terrorists on a daily basis throughout 2020 and even into 2021. Cotton has already sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland pointing out that, on top of letting the courthouse itself be attacked, the DOJ has not offered any legal assistance to several U.S. Marshals who have been sued for defending the courthouse against rioters.
“These courageous officers were attacked by left-wing street militants with weapons such as mortar fire, ball bearings, and blinding lasers,” Cotton’s letter reads in part. “A refusal to represent these Deputy Marshals would violate the Department’s long-standing practice — not to mention its moral duty — to defend law-enforcement officers when they’re sued for actions in the line of duty.”
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The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Tennessee announced recently that Revosea Richardson was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for the intent to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine. Richardson, who is a Selmer, Tennessee resident, was also found guilty of “conspiring with others to distribute” and being in possession of a firearm as a felon.
According to information presented in court, Richardson was taken into custody when he admitted to an officer during a traffic stop that he had outstanding warrants.
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The United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee announced two men previously convicted of felonies entered guilty pleas for crimes involving the illegal possession of firearms they were not allowed to have due to their previous convictions. John Davidson Long of Jackson was sentenced to ten years in federal prison. Demitrious Davis of Memphis, meanwhile, pled guilty but not has yet received sentencing.
According to prosecutors, Jackson law enforcement officers observed multiple members of the Vice Lord gang gather in the Parkway East Apartment Complex at Carver Cove in Jackson, Tennessee. “While monitoring the cameras, Long was observed standing outside of a car with a black handgun protruding from his waistband.” Since Long is a convicted felon, it is illegal for him to possess a firearm.
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A man from Memphis, Tennessee was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Tennessee announced on Tuesday. Kristopher Harris was sentenced to a total of 8 years plus one month to be served in a federal facility, followed by three years of supervised release.
According to information provided during court, in July of 2019, the victim of the carjacking was sitting in his car at Memphis-area gas station when Harris and his co-defendant, Kalonji Warren drove Warren’s Jeep alongside the victim’s vehicle. Harris then pointed a handgun at the victim and fired a single shot into the front passenger side window.
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The Tennessee Department of Justice announced this week a Minor Hill, Tennessee man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for “crimes related to the production of child pornography.” Joshua Marc Hendon and his wife Lori Hendon were indicted on “charges of conspiracy to produce child pornography, nine counts of production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography” in October 2017.
“Protecting innocent children from sexual predators remains one of our highest priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Wildasin. “I commend our law enforcement partners and prosecutors who work diligently to identify these predators and bring them to justice so that they no longer have the opportunity to exploit any child again.”
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The Department of Justice announced this week a man from Smyrna, Tennessee was charged for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud. Shawn Palmer, who is the sole owner of Palmers Transportation, Inc. was charged with a criminal information which alleges he applied for and received a PPP loan of $514,370.
According to the charging document, in June of 2020 Palmer sent documents to an individual who assisted him to apply for a PPP loan. The documents were then sent to Kabbage, Inc. which was “a lender approved by the Small Business Administration to provide funds under the program which was designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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The Department of Justice announced last week a former Tennessee clinic owner was sentenced for opioid distribution. Mark Daniel Allen, who now lives in Venice, Florida, was sentenced to 168 months in prison and $700 in special assessments, “followed by three years of supervised released.”
According to court documents, Allen was found guilty on six counts of “unlawfully distributing controlled substances” and one count of “maintaining a drug-involved premises after a three-day trial” which started September 1, 2021. Evidence at the trial showed Allen unlawfully prescribed 15,000 opioid pills to three women “with whom he had sexual relationships,” and to a male patient who later passed away.
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A woman from Sparta, Tennessee pled guilty to “Concealment of Material Support and Resources Intended to be Provided to a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin for the Middle District of Tennessee announced in a Tuesday statement. Georgianna A.M. Giampietro was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of 2019 after she was charged with “attempting to provide material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
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Melissa Goodwin, a Nashville woman who was a top executive at the T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer Research, allegedly embezzled almost $4 million, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
The Foundation receives in-kind donations from celebrities in the music industry. The organization auctions these items or experiences in order to fund cancer research.
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The Department of Justice announced this week a Knoxville, Tennessee man was arrested for defrauding COVID-19 economic relief programs. James Waylon Howell pled guilty to “engaging in more than $150,000 in fraud related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and to committing money laundering.” He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
“This prosecution highlights the Department of Justice’s commitment to aggressively prosecute those who have defrauded these important programs enacted to provide economic relief to those who have suffered financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. “Fortunately, the quick and capable work of our federal partners permitted the recovery of a substantial amount of stolen funds.”
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Former Obama White House adviser Seth Andrew this week pleaded guilty to participating in a wire fraud scheme in which he attempted to steal over $200,000 from a network of schools he helped found.
Andrew “admitted today to devising a scheme to steal from the very same schools he helped create,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement on the Justice Department’s website.
“Andrew now faces time in federal prison for abusing his position and robbing those he promised to help,” Williams noted.
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning to form a special unit focused on the threat of domestic terrorism, a top official told lawmakers Tuesday.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen announced the creation of the new unit in his opening remarks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.
“I decided to establish a domestic terrorism unit to augment our existing approach,” Olsen said. “This group of dedicated attorneys will focus on the domestic terrorism threat, helping to ensure that these cases are handled properly and effectively coordinated across the Department of Justice and across the country.”
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The Small Business Administration is not taking action against its partner lenders that issued billions of dollars in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans, Just the News has learned.
Congress appropriated almost $1 trillion in forgivable PPP loans to assist businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 15% of the $961 billion is projected to have been obtained fraudulently, according to a study.
A House of Representatives panel estimated that $84 billion in PPP funds was issued fraudulently.
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The Tennessee Department of Justice announced Friday that former Selmer, Tennessee Alderman Nickolas Atkins was sentenced for conspiring “to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.” Atkins’ conviction was the result of a joint task-force investigation involving Timmy Jermaine Cole, who investigators found was trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana, and cocaine from individuals in Mexico to West Tennessee.
According to information presented in court, Atkins worked in a drug distribution ring under Cole.
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The Department of Justice announced Thursday that a total of 11 individuals were indicted for their roles in a “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and fentanyl” as a part of an investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force that tracked the movement of the illicit substances from Washington and California into Tennessee.
“Our continued partnership with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, has resulted in the removal of 27 firearms, and the seizure of deadly fentanyl that has been linked to overdoses here in Dyersburg. We remain committed to the removal of this deadly drug, and illegally owned firearms from our community,” said Dyersburg Police Chief Steven L. Isbell.
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) selected Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) as a recipient of a grant from the STOP School Violence Program.
The funds, totaling $990,927, are aimed to advance school safety by instituting safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools across the country.
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On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would be permanently extending the early release of thousands of federal inmates who were set free due to a spike in COVID cases, as reported by the New York Post.
In doing so, the DOJ reversed an order previously made by President Donald Trump in January that would have seen such prisoners eventually returned to confinement. Instead, over 5,000 prisoners will now either remain in home confinement or be allowed to roam completely free.
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