Ben Penn

DOJ Veteran Takes Watchdog Role as Trump Shakes Up Oversight (1) The White House appointed a career Justice Department veteran, Don Berthiaume, as DOJ’s new acting inspector general several months after its longtime watchdog departed.

NEW: We obtained letter showing Trump alerted Senate "as a courtesy" that he's replacing DOJ IG, suggesting he could bypass Congress (despite it being required under IG Act).
"Priorities of my Administration will be better reflected" in new IG. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Seeks to Continue Civil Immigration Cases in Shutdown The Justice Department has directed US attorneys to proceed on all civil immigration cases during the government shutdown, departing from protocols that restricted work on such matters when federal fu...

News: DOJ instructed all US attorney's offices they "should NOT seek a stay on any civil immigration matters" during government shutdown, breaking from how Trump 1 DOJ handled such cases in 2019 shutdown. Civil litigators being told they're not furloughed.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Orders Criminal Charges Against Sponsors of Migrant Children The Justice Department is directing all 93 US attorney’s offices to prosecute adult sponsors of unaccompanied migrant children for fraud and other crimes, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in ...

New: DOJ directs all US attorney's offices to prosecute sponsors of unaccompanied migrant children for fraud and other crimes, per internal memo from DAG Blanche.
Story with Ellen Gilmer: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

US Attorney Ouster Forces Senate Democrats into No-Win Situation President Donald Trump’s politically motivated replacement of a Virginia US attorney with an inexperienced loyalist underscores the lose-lose situation facing Senate Democrats wishing to hold sway ove...

President Trump’s replacement of a Virginia US attorney with an inexperienced loyalist underscores the lose-lose situation facing Senate Democrats, @benjaminpenn.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Rethinks Reorganization Tied to Gender-Affirming Care Probes The Justice Department’s civil division is retaining criminal authority on healthcare statutes being used to probe children’s hospitals on gender-affirming care, backtracking from an April plan to tra...

How DOJ's plan to eliminate a high-performing office focused on consumer health & safety has been beset by confusion and delays, including a disagreement between heads of Civil & Criminal divisions over trans care subpoenas. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

To resolve conflict, Civil Division has partially walked back plan to transfer consumer protection branch’s criminal authority to Criminal Division. Civil leaders were far more keen to keep the trans cases, while Crim didn’t want them. Civ AAG Shumate memo lays out split jurisdiction with Crim.

DOJ Rethinks Reorganization Tied to Gender-Affirming Care Probes The Justice Department’s civil division is retaining criminal authority on healthcare statutes being used to probe children’s hospitals on gender-affirming care, backtracking from an April plan to tra...

Exclusive: Trump administration’s criminal probes of children’s hospitals over trans care are colliding with White House’s reorg to slash bureaucracy, leading to a disorderly rollout at DOJ that lawyers describe as anything but efficient. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Halligan Sworn In as Top Prosecutor in Eastern Virginia Lindsey Halligan has been sworn in as interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, two days after another conservative lawyer was installed to lead the office in an acting capacity.

News: Trump's planned nominee for US attorney in Eastern VA, Lindsey Halligan, arrives today as interim chief prosecutor. She's sworn in by Bondi to get to work in an office under pressure to indict Tish James. w/ @suzannemonyak.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

NEWS: Virginia's ousted US attorney, who resisted Letitia James indictment, is replaced today by Maggie Cleary, an inexperienced prosecutor who recently expressed a desire to end DOJ weaponization for Trump. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump DOJ Said to Unwind Apolitical Civil Rights Career Hiring The Justice Department is consolidating civil rights attorney hiring authority with a handful of Trump-aligned supervisors, departing from practices that were designed to avoid politicization, accordi...

Scoop: Trump DOJ departs from protocols that prevented politicized civil rights hiring to restock a depleted division. At least two new hires were removed or suspended from prior prosecutor jobs while facing complaints. With @suzannemonyak.bsky.social:
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump-Appointed Judge Triggers Face-Off on Delaware US Attorney A Trump-appointed judge is soliciting applications for Delaware’s US attorney, preempting the Trump administration’s selection of a permanent candidate and prompting rebuke from Deputy Attorney Genera...

A new front in Trump DOJ's battles with courts on US attorneys:
Delaware's chief judge, a Trump appointee, preempts DOJ's preferred pick for Delaware US attorney by soliciting applications directly to the court, drawing rebuke from DAG Todd Blanche.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Prosecutors Work Overnight in Trump-Directed DC Anti-Crime Surge Federal prosecutors at the Washington US attorney’s office have been required to work overnight shifts and pushed to charge more cases during a Justice Department law enforcement surge.

A rotating group of four assistant US attorneys, a supervisor, and paralegal have had to be on call starting at 5:30 p.m. every night for a 24-hour shift to handle the federal arrest surge, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social and @benjaminpenn.bsky.social report

news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

This is the first court ruling on White House/AG Bondi’s targeting of at least 20 medical providers - criminally and civilly - for gender-affirming care. Judge says he doesn’t believe DOJ’s stated reason for investigation.

Judge Stops ‘Bad Faith’ DOJ Probe of Boston Hospital Gender Care A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s subpoena for personally identifying data on gender-affirming care patients at Boston Children’s Hospital, finding the Trump administration’s high-prio...

NEWS: Federal judge blocks Trump DOJ's subpoena of Boston Children's Hospital for sensitive records on transgender patients, ruling that high-priority investigation was launched with an "improper purpose, motivated only by bad faith.” news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump DOJ’s Sanctuary Cities Group Loses Last Exiled Member The last member of the Trump Justice Department’s so-called sanctuary cities working group has departed, marking the potential end of a second term plan to demote and reassign senior career officials.

Overnight scoop: the last man standing in DOJ’s sanctuary cities working group quit on Friday. The island senior career officials were exiled to - as apparent punishment - if they wanted to keep working under Trump is now deserted. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Update from @maiaspoto.bsky.social: LA federal defenders, citing Alina Habba opinion (& our reporting on Acting US Atty Essayli "overruling the findings of the govt’s own agents & line prosecutors), asks court to disqualify Essayli as chief LA prosecutor
news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/j...

DOJ Fires and Reassigns Civil Rights Lawyers as New Hires Arrive The Justice Department civil rights division’s much shrunken career staff is facing new firings, forced reassignments, and demands for summaries of recent work as its leaders hire outside attorneys an...

Exclusive from @suzannemonyak.bsky.social & me on continued upheaval at DOJ civil rights division:
- 2 probationary attorneys fired
- Others forced into sections focused on voter fraud & anti-DEI probes
- AAG Dhillon hires "new class of civil rights warriors"
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

3) These revelations surrounding the subpoena for children's health data are fueling criticism from lawyers that Trump's targeting of gender care services is more about scaring providers than building legally sound prosecutions. Please read my full story, with Ian Lopez

2) Civil Div head Brett Shumate signed subpoena on day he was sworn in, breaking from tradition of career branch chief signing it. But that chief had just resigned, and on her way out the door was asked to sign a stack of hospital gender-related subpoenas. She declined, citing serious concerns.

Justice Department Expands Gender Care Probe as Hospital Fights Justice Department political leaders are probing gender-affirming care services at one of the nation’s largest, most renowned pediatric hospitals, as new details show an aggressive strategy to advance...

Two key abnormalities from our reporting on Trump DOJ transgender care subpoena:
1) DOJ urged judge to publicly identify hospital being investigated, an unheard of posture from prosecutors who typically want to stay covert to avoid compromising a case ...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump US Attorney in Virginia Resigns, Succeeded by Competitor The Trump-nominated US attorney for the Western District of Virginia abruptly resigned as the office’s interim leader Wednesday, and is being replaced by the lawyer he’d edged out for the job.

Scoop: Trump-nominated US Atty in rural Va. has already resigned & is replaced by the man he beat out for the job. Todd Gilbert arrived last month as interim US atty while awaiting confirmation. Rob Tracci was installed as his No. 2 this month & now takes over. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump’s Unusual Criminal Chief Pick Benefits From West Wing Ties A small-office prosecutor without supervisory experience has leapfrogged into a Trump nomination to lead 600 Justice Department criminal attorneys in Washington—thanks in part to his ties to the White...

How a veteran line prosecutor who’s never supervised and is known for working alone leaned on his ties to Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles to land a predtigious nomination to run DOJ’s Criminal Division news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump DOJ Extends US Attorney on Border After Judicial Criticism The Trump administration converted New Mexico’s interim US attorney to “acting” as his temporary term was expiring, the latest chief prosecutor—and first on the border—to sidestep traditional judiciar...

Exclusive: Another Trump US attorney--and 1st one on the border--receives an "acting" appointment to sidestep judicial approval. New Mexico's Ryan Ellison gets extended as his term was about to expire, following public confrontations w/ judges on deportations news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump’s Unusual Criminal Chief Pick Benefits from West Wing Ties A small-office prosecutor without supervisory experience has leapfrogged into a Trump nomination to lead 600 Justice Department criminal attorneys in Washington—thanks in part to his ties to the White...

News: A Florida line prosecutor without supervisory experience leapfrogged to become Trump's nominee to lead DOJ's criminal division w/ 1,100 employees--thanks in part to his ties to WH Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that led to two Oval Office meetings. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Legal team for former PR governor tried to clarify the record from our 'damaging' coverage, claiming no political intrusion in her plea deal.
DOJ replies by telling judge her lawyers 'completely fabricated' their account of Main Justice meeting.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ’s Mizelle Said to Push His Groomsman for White Collar Post Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle, a leading voice in overhauling law enforcement to meet President Donald Trump’s agenda, is moving to appoint his wedding groomsman and law school housem...

Scoop: DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle is working to get his wedding groomsman & law school housemate installed in a senior DOJ role overseeing white collar enforcement. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

“You caught me,” Mizelle said in a statement. “I associate with smart, hardworking professionals that have achieved incredible success in their careers. Perhaps I should socialize more with people who have spent their entire career as a beat reporter for the 46th most viewed publication in the US.”

DOJ’s Mizelle Said to Push His Groomsman for White Collar Post Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle, a leading voice in overhauling law enforcement to meet President Donald Trump’s agenda, is moving to appoint his wedding groomsman and law school housem...

Scoop: DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle is working to get his wedding groomsman & law school housemate installed in a senior DOJ role overseeing white collar enforcement. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Justice Department, LA Office Spar Over White-Collar Enforcement A Justice Department official in Washington is pushing back on acting Los Angeles US Attorney Bill Essayli’s reliance on recent white-collar policy to dismiss charges against a fast-food executive who...

Problems appear to be escalating for acting LA US Atty Bill Essayli. Main Justice official objects to his court filing rationale for dropping $47M fraud case against a Trump donor. Federal bench already declined to appoint Essayli. How will judges react now? news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Main Justice is pushing back on LA acting US Atty Essayli for justifying dismissal of Trump donor/Fatburger exec fraud case by citing criminal division policy memo on white collar priorities. DOJ official distances crim div from embattled Essayli's action. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...