Latest news with #ChristopherCooper
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court limits outside access to DOGE records
The Supreme Court has reined in a lower-court order that allowed a watchdog group wide-ranging access to records of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency. The high court's majority said a judge's directive allowing Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to examine DOGE's recommendations for cost savings at executive branch agencies was 'not appropriately tailored.' In a two-page order Friday, the Supreme Court said such access was not a proper way to resolve an ongoing dispute about whether DOGE is a federal agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act or operates as a presidential advisory body that does not have to share its records with the public. 'Separation of powers concerns counsel judicial deference and restraint in the context of discovery regarding internal Executive Branch communications,' the court's majority wrote. All three of the court's liberal justices indicated they disagreed with the decision, but none provided an explanation of her views. The court's action amounted to a partial victory for the Trump administration, which filed an emergency appeal in an effort to avoid complying with orders from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who is overseeing CREW's lawsuit. However, the high court's order appears to leave the door open for CREW to seek records and take testimony about DOGE's structure and authority. The Trump administration has insisted that the DOGE team simply makes recommendations to agency officials, who have the final decision on budget and staff cuts. However, Cooper said there were strong indications that DOGE's recommendations were routinely approved wholesale, suggesting they were more like orders than suggestions.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge rules Trump unconstitutionally retaliated against ABA by canceling grants
May 15 (UPI) -- A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration unconstitutionally retaliated against the American Bar Association when it abruptly canceled millions in grants awarded to the world's largest association of lawyers and legal professionals. Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction against the cancelation of the five grants and ordered the Justice Department to fully pay out the $3.2 million previously allocated to the ABA. The grants were intended to train lawyers and judges who work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. "The ABA has made a strong showing that Defendants terminated its grants to retaliate against it for engaging in protected speech," the President Barack Obama-appointed judge wrote in his ruling. The Trump administration has been accused of retaliating against President Donald Trump's perceived political opponents, including law firms associated with Democrats and judges who have ruled against his policies. The ABA is among those who have described such attacks as threats to the judiciary, and in February, it joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's freeze of international development grants to the U.S. Agency for international Development. In April, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum calling out ABA over its lawsuit against the government and support for "activist causes," essentially severing the Justice Department's interactions with the organization. The department then canceled the grants the next day The organization filed its lawsuit against the Trump administration on April 23, accusing it of unlawful retaliation for exercising its First Amendment right to petition the courts. "This lawsuit is necessitated by DOJ's undisguised efforts to retaliate against the ABA for taking positions that the current Administration disfavors," the lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of ABA stated. In his ruling Wednesday, Cooper said the government does not have any "meaningful" arguments to contest ABA's claims, stating it points to deficiencies in the organization's performance of its grant obligations while conceding that similar grants administered to other organizations remain in place. "The government claims that it had a non-retaliatory motive for terminating the grants: They no longer aligned with DOJ's priorities. But the government has not identified any non-retaliatory DOJ priorities, much less explained why they were suddenly deemed inconsistent with the goals of the affected grants," he said, adding that similar grants to other organizations continue without the government explaining why those are still being maintained. "The government's different treatment of other grantees suggests this justification is pretextual." Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman celebrated the ruling in a statement, saying it is "welcome news" for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and for their families. "For decades, the American Bar Association has provided critical training to lawyers to enable the provision of essential legal services to survivors. The court recognized today that the ABA is being unconstitutionally targeted by the Department of Justice because of their longstanding and unchanged stance on the importance of the rule of law and our Constitution," Perryman said.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Justice Department must reinstate ABA domestic violence grants, judge says
The Justice Department unconstitutionally retaliated against the American Bar Association by terminating grants for a program aimed at helping victims of domestic violence, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Five grants from DOJ's Office on Violence Against Women to the ABA's Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence totaling $3.2 million must be reinstated and fully paid out, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled. 'The ABA has made a strong showing that Defendants terminated its grants to retaliate against it for engaging in protected speech,' Cooper wrote. The grants at issue were terminated on April 10, one day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo laying out new DOJ policy that severely limits the ability of department employees to attend or participate in ABA events or programs. The memo was sent to all department employees after the ABA joined an earlier lawsuit challenging a freeze on foreign aid grants via the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The ABA, the largest national association of lawyers in the country, then sued the Justice Department on April 23 over the canceled grants. 'The ABA is free to litigate in support of activist causes, including by inserting itself into pending litigation as an amicus curiae,' Blanche wrote in the memo. 'But 'public service is a public trust.' The Department of Justice must, consistent with the Constitution, be careful stewards of the public fisc, represent all Americans regardless of ideology or political preferences, and defend the policies chosen by American's democratically elected leadership.' DOJ failed to show a sufficient motivation for terminating the grants other than retaliation, Cooper ruled. 'The government claims that it had a nonretaliatory motive for terminating the grants: They no longer aligned with DOJ's priorities,' Cooper wrote. 'But the government has not identified any nonretaliatory DOJ priorities, much less explained why they were suddenly deemed inconsistent with the goals of the affected grants.' Other Office on Violence Against Women grant recipients have not had their funding disrupted and continue to conduct similar programs to the ABA's, Cooper noted. Losing this funding would require the ABA to lay off almost all of the staff at the Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, the group's chief counsel said in a declaration. 'The government has offered no nonretaliatory explanation for why it continues to fund these other OVW grantees after terminating the ABA's grants, or why these other grantees' projects still effectuate DOJ's priorities while the ABA's do not,' Cooper wrote. Wednesday's order doesn't prevent DOJ from terminating the grants for 'permissible and truly nonretaliatory reasons,' though any further action to cancel the payments would be subject to more legal challenges. The order also doesn't require DOJ to renew the grants once the funds have been paid out. The ABA has joined with other bar associations in recent months to criticize the Trump administration's efforts to punish lawyers and firms that represent certain clients, saying they are 'designed to cow our country's judges, our country's courts and our legal profession.'
Politico
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Justice Department must reinstate ABA domestic violence grants, judge says
The Justice Department unconstitutionally retaliated against the American Bar Association by terminating grants for a program aimed at helping victims of domestic violence, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Five grants from DOJ's Office on Violence Against Women to the ABA's Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence totaling $3.2 million must be reinstated and fully paid out, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled. 'The ABA has made a strong showing that Defendants terminated its grants to retaliate against it for engaging in protected speech,' Cooper wrote. The grants at issue were terminated on April 10, one day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo laying out new DOJ policy that severely limits the ability of department employees to attend or participate in ABA events or programs. The memo was sent to all department employees after the ABA joined an earlier lawsuit challenging a freeze on foreign aid grants via the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The ABA, the largest national association of lawyers in the country, then sued the Justice Department on April 23 over the canceled grants. 'The ABA is free to litigate in support of activist causes, including by inserting itself into pending litigation as an amicus curiae,' Blanche wrote in the memo. 'But 'public service is a public trust.' The Department of Justice must, consistent with the Constitution, be careful stewards of the public fisc, represent all Americans regardless of ideology or political preferences, and defend the policies chosen by American's democratically elected leadership.' DOJ failed to show a sufficient motivation for terminating the grants other than retaliation, Cooper ruled. 'The government claims that it had a nonretaliatory motive for terminating the grants: They no longer aligned with DOJ's priorities,' Cooper wrote. 'But the government has not identified any nonretaliatory DOJ priorities, much less explained why they were suddenly deemed inconsistent with the goals of the affected grants.' Other Office on Violence Against Women grant recipients have not had their funding disrupted and continue to conduct similar programs to the ABA's, Cooper noted. Losing this funding would require the ABA to lay off almost all of the staff at the Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, the group's chief counsel said in a declaration. 'The government has offered no nonretaliatory explanation for why it continues to fund these other OVW grantees after terminating the ABA's grants, or why these other grantees' projects still effectuate DOJ's priorities while the ABA's do not,' Cooper wrote. Wednesday's order doesn't prevent DOJ from terminating the grants for 'permissible and truly nonretaliatory reasons,' though any further action to cancel the payments would be subject to more legal challenges. The order also doesn't require DOJ to renew the grants once the funds have been paid out. The ABA has joined with other bar associations in recent months to criticize the Trump administration's efforts to punish lawyers and firms that represent certain clients, saying they are 'designed to cow our country's judges, our country's courts and our legal profession.'
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Yahoo
Son charged with killing father in Maryland home
The Brief Prince George's County police believe Christopher Wiley Cooper murdered his father, Patrick Cooper, in Fort Washington. Police responded to a suicide attempt report and found Patrick Cooper dead from blunt force trauma. Christopher Cooper was found nearby with self-inflicted stab wounds and is receiving treatment for "non-life-threatening" injuries. Cooper has been charged with first and second-degree murder, and the investigation is ongoing. FORT WASHINGTON, Md. - Prince George's County police believe a Fort Washington dad was murdered by his own son on Friday. The backstory Christopher Wiley Cooper is accused of fatally assaulting his 59-year-old father, Patrick Cooper, inside their home on Den Meade Avenue. Police were called to the residence at around 5:00 a.m. on March 14, after a report of an attempted suicide. When officers arrived, they found Patrick Cooper dead, suffering from trauma. The suspect, Christopher Cooper, was located nearby with multiple self-inflicted stab wounds to his abdomen. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he is being treated for injuries that are not considered "life-threatening." The preliminary investigation revealed that Christopher Cooper fatally assaulted his father before turning the knife on himself. An autopsy confirmed that Patrick Cooper's cause of death was blunt force trauma. Christopher Cooper has been charged with first and second-degree murder and related offenses. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are urging anyone with information to contact the Homicide Unit at 301-516-2512 or Crime Solvers. The Source Prince George's County Police Department
