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DOJ Tag

Attorney General William Barr began his testimony this morning in front of the House appropriations committee to discuss the Justice Department's budget and priorities, but Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report has come up. Barr told the members he asked Mueller if he wanted to review the four page summary, but declined. He also promised a redacted version within a week.

At 11:16AM, lawyer Michael Avenatti tweeted about his press conference tomorrow morning, which would cover a high school/prep school scandal that involves Nike. Only 46 minutes later, a CNN reporter tweeted that the Southern District of New York charged Avenatti for "attempting to extract more than $20M in payments from a publicly traded company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial & reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met." The DOJ also announced Avennati's arrest on a separate charge of federal bank fraud and wire fraud.

The Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released pages of transcripts from their interview with ex-FBI attorney Lisa Page, which included admissions of the FBI beginning their Russian investigation with little evidence and an insurance policy in case now-President Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton. Page also confirmed the DOJ told the FBI not to charge Hillary in the email investigation.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) wants two things concerning President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen: criminal referral for allegedly violating lobbying laws and supposedly committing perjury. Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan joined forces with Meadows on the second item. Both of these concerns came up when Cohen testified in front of the committee on Wednesday.

Back in May 2018, attorney Michael Avenatti published what looked like bank records related to President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who in turn demanded the court force Avenatti to reveal his source. Avenatti claimed that Cohen lacked evidence that he received or distributed any bank records. At the time, Cohen represented Stormy Daniels in her case against Trump. Well, now an IRS employee has been charged with providing Cohen's information to Avenatti.

We have been following the developments related to Canada's arrest of China’s Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who faces extradition to the United States on suspicion she violated U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. The Department of Justice officially unsealed charges against the tech giant, the executive, and several subsidiaries, alleging the company stole trade secrets and misled banks about its business...as well as violating U.S. sanctions.

Attorney General William Barr said that he plans to tell the Senate during his confirmation hearings this week that he believes Special Counsel Robert Mueller should finish his Russia investigation. From NBC News:
"I believe it is vitally important that the Special Counsel be allowed to complete his investigation," Barr plans to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to prepared remarks obtained by NBC News.

Reports have come out today that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein plans to leave the Department of Justice (DOJ) after confirmation of the new attorney general. From ABC News:
Rosenstein has communicated to President Donald Trump and White House officials his plan to depart the administration around the time William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, would take office following a Senate confirmation.

On Thursday the IG published a bombshell report regarding the now-infamous anti-Trump sentiment shared between two key members of the FBI and of the Mueller investigation team, Peter Strzok and his mistress Lisa Page. The IG report reveals not only that both Strzok's and Page's iPhones were wiped clean and restored to factory settings by a member of Mueller's team but that Strzok's iPhone was then reissued to another agent for use.

As the #NeverTrump right joins forces with the progressive left to call on acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to recuse himself from the Mueller probe, President Trump appeared on Fox News Sunday and voiced his support for Whitaker's decisions regarding the investigation. Asked if he would be "okay" with any attempt by Whitaker to "limit or curtail" the Mueller investigation, Trump responded, "Look, it's gonna be up to him."

The Department of Justice has ruled that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker can serve in the position. Whitaker came under criticism after President Donald Trump appointed him when Jeff Sessions stepped down. Whitaker served as Sessions' chief of staff.

Just before President Donald Trump boarded Air Force One, he told the press he has no plans to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein is traveling with Trump to Orlando, FL. Speculation has grown around a possible firing of Rosenstein after The New York Times reported last month that he offered to tape Trump and discuss invoking the 25th amendment with Cabinet Members.