By Hemp Today A 2013 Department of Justice memorandum designed to prioritize the goals of anti-marijuana legislation should shield Indian tribes who are looking at growing hemp as an industrial crop, former ND Federal Prosecutor Timothy Purdon said. The so-called “Cole memo” is a policy statement based on Deputy U.S. Attorney General James M. Cole’s…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Justice Department is about to lose another high-ranking officials. Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole, second-in-command, announced Thursday that he’s taking a job in the private sector, the Washington Post reports. The Post said possible successors include Sally Quillian Yates, who is U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia,…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Justice Department is searching prisoners who may qualify for clemency. NPR reports that Deputy Attorney General James Cole met Tuesday with defense attorneys and interest groups to help identify inmates with clean records, long sentences for low-level crimes and no significant history with gangs or violence. The speech is a strong…
By Sari Horwitz and William Branigin Washington Post WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Tuesday that he recused himself from involvement in a Justice Department leak investigation that secretly acquired telephone records of Associated Press journalists. But in response to questions at a news conference, he defended the department’s conduct in probing…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Sen. Chuck Grassley is questioning the commitment of Attorney Gen. Eric Holder and his Deputy Attorney General James Cole to FBI whistleblowers. In a press released issued Monday, Grassley said one FBI whistleblower case “continues to languish for nine years and a second case sits in limbo for more than four…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The controversy over the legality of medical marijuana only seems to be getting more and more confusing. The Associated Press reports that James Cole, the number two person at the Justice Department, has written a memo saying state medical marijuana laws do not provide immunity from federal prosecution, and refused to…
By Joel Rosenblatt Bloomberg Large-scale growers, sellers and distributors of marijuana may be prosecuted in states that have passed laws permitting medical use of the drug, according to a Justice Department memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The June 29 memo, from Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole to U.S. attorneys, says a 2009 memo issued…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The Senate on Tuesday delivered the long awaited confirmation of Deputy Attorney Gen. James Cole. By a vote of 55-42, the Senate confirmed Cole, 59, who had been nominated by the White House more than a year ago. But he bumped up against Republican opposition, so President Obama ended up giving…
