Jerry Seper

Justice Department orders more reports on border arms sales

The Justice Department on Monday ordered that all gun dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas be required to notify the federal government about frequent buyers of high-powered rifles, saying that violence along the Southwest border has expanded to a point that it poses a "significant threat" to the United States. Published July 11, 2011

Groups want House to restart Waters probe

A coalition of reform groups wants the House Committee on Ethics to resume its work on the long-pending investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters and provide a public accounting of the status of the case against the California Democrat. Published July 10, 2011

House lawmaker asks Justice for data about Kagan

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has asked the Justice Department to turn over more specific information on Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's role in crafting a legal defense of President Obama's health care law when she served as the administration's solicitor general. Published July 7, 2011

Inquiry of weapons smuggling to expand

The closed-door testimony of ATF's acting director, saying that the Justice Department was obstructing a congressional investigation, has prompted an expansion of that ongoing probe into the controversial "Fast and Furious" weapons-smuggling operation. Published July 7, 2011

Morgan Chase to pay $228M to settle bond case

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has entered into an agreement with the Justice Department to resolve the companys role in anticompetitive activity in the municipal bond investments market, agreeing to pay $228 million in restitution, penalties and disgorgement of ill-gotten profits to federal and state agencies. Published July 7, 2011

ATF chief: Higher-ups at Justice blocked response to Congress

The Justice Department blocked senior ATF leaders from cooperating with Congress in its investigation of the "Fast and Furious" weapons operation, ordering them not to respond to questions and taking full control of replying to briefing and document requests, the agency's top boss told Congressional investigators. Published July 6, 2011

Mexico’s top Zetas boss arrested in killing of U.S. agent

A co-founder of the Los Zetas drug cartel suspected in the broad daylight ambush killing of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in February on a Mexican highway was arrested Sunday by law enforcement authorities in that country. Published July 4, 2011

U.S. marshals nab suspected drug lord in L.A.

A suspected drug kingpin named on the U.S. Marshals Service's "15 Most Wanted" fugitives list has been captured in Los Angeles by the marshals' Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force. Published July 1, 2011

Probe urged of Kagan’s health care role

Forty-nine Republican members of Congress have asked the House Judiciary Committee to “promptly investigate” Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's role in preparing a legal defense for President Obama's health care law when she served as solicitor general. Published June 30, 2011

Senate approves Cole as Holder’s top Justice deputy

Deputy Attorney General James Cole was confirmed on Tuesday by the Senate, mostly along party lines, as Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.'s top deputy - a position he has held since Jan. 3 when he was installed by President Obama in a temporary recess appointment. Published June 28, 2011

Senate approves Cole as Holder’s top deputy

Deputy Attorney General James Cole was confirmed on Tuesday by the Senate, mostly along party lines, as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s top deputy — a position he has held since Jan. 3 when he was installed by President Obama in a temporary recess appointment. Published June 28, 2011

Boston mob boss Bulger nabbed in California

Boston crime boss James J. “Whitey” Bulger, who has been on the run from law enforcement authorities for more than 16 years, was arrested late Wednesday in a Santa Monica, Calif., home he shared with his girlfriend, ending a manhunt that had landed the infamous mob leader on the FBI's “Ten Most Wanted List.” Published June 23, 2011

More than 2,400 convicted aliens rounded up

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday said more than 2,400 convicted criminal aliens and immigration fugitives were arrested in May in a seven-day targeted "Cross Check" enforcement operation as part of what ICE called the Obama administration's "ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens that threaten public and national security." Published June 21, 2011

Feds take down ‘national drug ring’ operating in Va.

Federal authorities have dismantled what investigators described on Friday as a "significant, national drug ring" operating in Virginia that made millions of dollars trafficking marijuana and recruiting college athletes to target fellow students for drug sales, prosecutors say. Published June 17, 2011

3 plead guilty to forced farm labor of Thais in U.S.

Officials of a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based farm-labor contracting firm pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of conspiring to lure 600 Thai nationals to the United States to work on farms in Hawaii and Washington state, where they were subjected to severe abuse. Published June 15, 2011

Justice launches investigation on Portland police

A day after saying there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal civil rights charges against Portland , Ore., police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black man, the Justice Department on Wednesday said it had begun an investigation to determine whether Portland police used excessive force in carrying out their duties. Published June 8, 2011

Edwards indicted over mistress payments

Former U.S. senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem, N.C., to charges he concealed nearly $1 million in secret campaign donations to hide an extramarital affair and to protect and advance his 2008 presidential candidacy. Published June 3, 2011

Supreme Court: Ashcroft can’t be sued over arrest

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot be sued over his role in the post-September 11 arrest by federal agents at Dulles International Airport of an American Muslim who was listed as a terrorism witness but was never charged with a crime, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. Published May 31, 2011

2 Iraqis in Ky. charged in terror plot

An Iraqi national suspected of carrying out numerous bombing attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and another Iraqi citizen tied to the Iraqi insurgency have been arrested and indicted in Kentucky on federal terrorism charges. Published May 31, 2011

11 suspected Philly mob members arrested

A 50-count indictment unsealed Monday in Philadelphia charges 13 leaders, members and associates of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family with crimes that spanned more than a decade. Published May 23, 2011