The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into real estate transactions involving New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a person familiar with the case—the first known criminal probe of a law enforcement official who took action against President Donald Trump.
David Souter, the former U.S. Supreme Court justice who dismayed Republicans by siding with liberals on some of America’s most contentious social issues after his appointment by President George H.W. Bush, has died. “Justice David Souter served our court with great distinction for nearly twenty years,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. “He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service.”
President Donald Trump will replace interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin, his embattled nominee to serve as the top prosecutor for D.C., after 15 tumultuous weeks in office marked by his threats to investigate Trump’s perceived political adversaries and firings and demotions of career prosecutors who investigated the president and the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday championed the independence and authority of the nation’s judicial system to serve as a check on Congress and the president at a time when federal courts are being attacked by the Trump administration.
A Republican who narrowly lost a North Carolina Supreme Court election ended his challenge to the results Wednesday, clearing the way for the Democratic incumbent to be sworn in six months after she won the race.
The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday called on the Justice Department and FBI to investigate a series of anonymous pizza deliveries made to the homes of federal judges in recent months, saying they appeared to be part of a wave of threats against the judiciary.
Justice Department lawyers defending the Trump administration’s policies are encountering mounting criticism and frustration from federal judges, a sign of deepening tension between the executive branch and courts weighing its aggressive uses of power.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson denounced what she called “relentless attacks” on the federal judiciary, saying efforts to intimidate judges were threatening the Constitution and the rule of law. “The attacks are not random,” Jackson said. “They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a county judge from performing her duties after she was charged with helping a migrant from Mexico briefly evade arrest.
The new head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is dramatically reshaping the office to propel President Donald Trump’s social agenda, prompting the departure of about half of the division’s lawyers in recent weeks.
