By PETE YOST Associated Press WASHINGTON — Muffins: $16 apiece. Coffee: more than a dollar an ounce. Snacks: $32 per person. A report issued Tuesday by the Justice Department’s inspector general found excessive spending on food and beverages in an audit of 10 department conferences. Justice spent about $490,000 on food and beverages at the…
By Jerry Markon Washington Post WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is ramping up civil rights enforcement against local police nationwide, opening a number of investigations to determine whether officers are guilty of brutality or discrimination against Hispanics and other minorities. In recent months, the Justice Department has begun inquiries into major city police departments such…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com The Justice Department is coming down hard on the Puerto Rico Police Department — the nation’s second largest — accusing it of “profound” and “longstanding” civil rights violations and illegal practices, reports the New York Times. The Puerto Rico Police Department is “using force, including deadly force, when no force…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Medicare fraud, which helps zap government funding for healthcare, was at front center on Wednesday when the Justice Department announced a nationwide crackdown that resulted in charges against 91 people who were involved in roughly $295 million in false billings. Authorities said in Miami alone, 45 people—including a doctor and a…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com The Software company Oracle is being investigated by the FBI, reports the Guardian, in what some see as a trend in the increase of prosecutions under the foreign corrupt practices act (FCPA), which forbids U.S. companies from paying bribes to foreign government officials or employees of state-owned companies. “Every week…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The FBI soon plans to give its employees a test on bureau policies for conducting surveillance on Americans. The test, if you recall, is called the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide. (DIOG) Last time the test was given for the DIOG, things didn’t go so well. In fact, a scandal developed….
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Mexico may not be thrilled about the latest allegations coming out of the U.S. The news service All Headline News (AHN) reports that court filings in an upcoming Chicago case against accused Mexican drug lord Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla claim the Justice Department agreed to protect Niebla from prosecution in exchange…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The FBI’s Aaron M. Zebley is movin on up. The website Main Justice reports that FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III has promoted Zebley to his chief of staff. Zebley, an agent and a former federal prosecutor, had been the deputy chief of staff. Zebley will replace John P. Carlin, who…
