Attorney General Meets With Media Leaders to Tighten Rules on Leak Investigations
On June 14, Attorney General Merrick Garland met with leaders of The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post to strengthen rules for obtaining journalists' records during leak investigations. The meeting took place after several reports emerged saying that the Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, had secretly subpoenaed journalists’ phone and email logs in an effort to uncover sources in stories that had been leaked to the press.
DOJ Under President Trump Acquired Phone Records of NYT Reporters
On June 2nd, the Department of Justice revealed that during the administration of former President Donald Trump, the DOJ acquired the phone records of four reporters from The New York Times. The phone records date from the first several months of 2017.
DOJ Under President Trump Attempted to Uncover Twitter Account Critical of Rep. Devin Nunes
On May 17th, court documents were unsealed showing that during the administration of former President Donald Trump, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued Twitter a grand jury subpoena requesting the company to unmask an account critical of U.S. Representative Devin Nunes. The DOJ sought to obtain the identity of the individual operating the account known as @NunesAlt.
E. Jean Carroll’s Lawyers Push Back on DOJ’s Efforts to Intervene in Trump Suit
“There is not a single person in the United States—not the President and not anyone else—whose job description includes slandering women they sexually assaulted,” Roberta Kaplan wrote in response to the Department of Justice’s motion. “That should not be a controversial proposition. Remarkably, however, the Justice Department seeks to prove it wrong.”
The Justice Department Abandons Effort to Censor Michael Cohen
Federal prosecutors say they will abandon efforts to prevent Michael Cohen from talking to the media and publishing his tell-all book on the president. The letter comes one week after Hellerstein ordered Cohen’s release from prison. Cohen was returned to prison after he refused to sign an agreement barring him from posting on social media, talking to the press, and releasing his forthcoming book on Trump.
Lawmakers Call for the Drug Enforcement Administration to End Its Surveillance of Protesters
“The DEA’s narcotics interdiction tactics are not appropriate measures to address the limited violence that has taken place over the past few days or to monitor peaceful protests,” the letter said. “The expansion of the DEA’s law enforcement authority, including the use of ‘covert surveillance’ and collection of intelligence, is unwarranted and antithetical to the American people’s right to peacefully assemble and to exercise their Constitutional rights without undue Intrusion.”
Justice Department’s Deputy Attorney General Looks to Amend Section 230
“After 25 years, it seems that the time has come for Congress to assess what changes to Section 230 are now needed and whether there are ways to realign some of its incentives in a better way,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said.
Snowden Will Hand Over Royalties, Federal Judge Rules
The Department of Justice sued Snowden in September for publishing his memoir without submitting it first for government review. Snowden's lawyers have argued that the government does not apply rules consistently and that much of the information in the book had already been made public.