Matthew Miller was director of the Justice Department’s public affairs office from 2009 to 2011. By Matthew Miller For the Washington Post President Trump on Sunday launched his most direct attack on the Justice Department’s independence since he fired FBI Director James B. Comey, taking to Twitter to “hereby demand” that it open a counter-investigation…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita has exhausted his personal savings to pay for his own forensic experts and has sought some federal funds to cover additional expenses, his attorney said in court, The Oregonian newspaper reports. On Monday, Astarita sat in a U.S. District Court hearing in Portland listening to government…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Some of the late night comics have not been kind to President Donald Trump. That certainly includes Seth Meyers, who weighs in on the president’s claims about an FBI spy in the 2016 campaign, his Twitter rants and Donald Trump Jr.’s activity.
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com It’s no longer a secret: Stefan A. Halper is the FBI source who assisted the Russia investigation, the Washington Post reports. He’s at the center of a standoff between congressional Republicans and the Justice Department. The Post describes him as a well-connected veteran of past GOP administrations who convened senior intelligence…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Two U.S. citizens were stopped and questioned by a Border Patrol agent last week at a northern Montana gas station in the town of Havre because they were speaking Spanish, KRTV reports. Ana Suda, a native of Texas who lives in Havre, stopped with a friend at a Town Pump store…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Echoing what former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said the other day, ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper tells CNN Monday that President Donald Trump is leading “a very disturbing assault on the independence of the Department of Justice.” “When the President — this president or any president — tries to…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com For decades, the Philadelphia Police Department only analyzed ballistic evidence needed for trials. Other shell casings collected at crime scenes sat in evidence lockers across the city, reports NBC 10 in Philly. Two years ago, the department collaborated with ATF to collect and analyze all casing. Now in Philly investigators analyze…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Here’s the latest political storm in Washington. The Justice Department on Monday directed, a the behest of President Donald Trump, the Inspector General to probe the president’s allegation that his campaign had been “infiltrated or surveilled” by the FBI, NBC News reports. “The Department has asked the Inspector General to expand the…
