News Story
Head of ATF on Proposed Budget and Trimming Fat: ‘Now We’re Trimming into Bone’
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com One way to cut back on enforcement of the nation’s gun laws is to reduce funding to the top agency tasked with that job. On Wednesday, Thomas Brandon, head of ATF, broke with the White House on the administration’s 2020 budget proposal that calls for ATF cuts, saying it would further…
A Sickly Paul Manafort Gets 3.5 More Years
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A sickly Paul Manafort was sentenced to another 3.5 years in prison Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Judge Amy Berman Jackson of D.C. sentenced him to 43 months, which is in addition to the 47 months he received by a federal judge in Alexandria, Va. in a separate case, the Washington Post reports. …
FBI Busts the Privileged in College Scam
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Well, well, well. Apparently some of the privileged folks can’t bear to see their kids go to mediocre college. So, we have this. Thirty-three well-heeled parents, including Hollywood celebrities including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, were implicated Tuesday in a nationwide bribery and fraud scheme to help students gain admission to elite…
Mueller Team Funded Through September
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team is funded through the end of September if necessary, Reuters reports. The funding wasn’t addressed in the budget requests for the next government fiscal year issued by the White House and Justice Department on Monday because Mueller’s office is financed by the U.S. Treasury under special…
McCabe’s Book: Session Said Bureau Was Better Off With All Irish Men. ‘They Were Drunks But They Could Be Trusted ‘
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Ex-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe paints a very unflattering portrait of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in his new book. McCabe writes that Sessions didn’t read intelligence reports, mixed up classified material with what he had seen in newspaper clips and was confused about the structure and purpose of organizations, the…
Secret Service Agent Robert DeProspero, Fierce Protector of Presidents, Dies at 80
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Robert DeProspero who became the Secret Service agent in charge of Reagan’s protection after the 1981 assassination attempt, died last Monday in Scottsdale, Arizona at age 80, the New York Times reports. He suffered from was amyloidosis, a rare disease in which an abnormal protein is deposited in tissues and organs. After…
Ex-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe Shocked by Manafort’s ‘Lenient’ Sentence
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he was stunned by the “incredibly lenient sentence” ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort received in Alexandria, Va. last Thursday. “Well, I was really surprised by the sentence he was given,” McCabe told Face the Nation. “I think…
Ex-Detroit U.S. Attorney on Manfort’s Sentence: ‘It Reflects The Class and Racial Disparities That Exist In The Criminal-Justice System’
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com DETROIT — Outrage is voiced about a 47-month prison sentence for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, whose federeal penalty for bank and insurance frauds falls far short of the 19-24 years suggested in sentencing guidelines. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III on Thursday called the guidelines “vindictive” and “way out of…