Latest news with #SarahN.Lynch
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US team investigating foreign bribery dwindles, sources say
By Andrew Goudsward, Sarah N. Lynch and Chris Prentice WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department's team dedicated to investigating allegations of foreign bribery has dwindled as President Donald Trump's administration reviews its enforcement of a decades-old law aimed at preventing corruption, according to three people familiar with the matter. The DOJ's Fraud Section unit tasked with enforcing the anti-bribery law has shrunk to about 15 prosecutors, according to two of the sources. That number is down from 32 as of a January report published on the department's website. The cuts follow Trump's executive order in February calling for a pause in enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that prohibits companies that operate in the U.S. from bribing foreign officials and has become a cornerstone of federal efforts to combat corruption. A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment. The DOJ launched a 180-day review of its enforcement of the FCPA following Trump's order, which kicked off an exodus of staff from the unit. Prosecutors largely moved elsewhere in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, including its Healthcare and Marketplace Fraud units, two of the sources said. New guidance on how prosecutors are to handle FCPA cases is being drafted and expected to be released soon, one of the sources said. Attorney General Pam Bondi in February directed foreign bribery prosecutors to prioritize cases related to drug cartels, a Trump administration emphasis that has not traditionally been a focus of the unit. A memo from the Criminal Division last month listed foreign bribery below issues such as fraud in government programs and tariff evasion as corporate enforcement priorities for the Trump administration. The DOJ has been scaling back its enforcement against white-collar crimes and focusing on different types of cases. It has also dropped other initiatives aimed at preventing corruption. (Reporting Chris Prentice in New York, Andrew Goudward and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Rod Nickel)
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US launches unit to target DEI policies at colleges with civil fraud probes
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States announced on Monday the formation of a new unit that will crack down on federally-funded universities that have diversity, equity and inclusion policies using a civil anti-fraud law, the Justice Department said in a memo. The creation of the "Civil Rights Fraud Initiative" marks the latest escalation by the administration of President Donald Trump against colleges and universities that it has claimed are pushing antisemitic, anti-American, Marxist and "radical left" ideologies. "A university that accepts federal funds could violate the False Claims Act when it encourages antisemitism, refuses to protect Jewish students, allows men to intrude into women's bathrooms or requires women to compete against men in athletic competitions," Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche wrote in the memo. "Colleges and universities cannot accept federal funds while discriminating against their students." The False Claims Act is a federal civil law that allows the government to recover funds lost due to fraud. Private citizens can also use it to sue on the government's behalf and can become eligible to receive a portion of the recovered proceeds. Last week, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration had launched a False Claims Act inquiry into whether Harvard's admission policies comply with a Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action. Harvard is currently suing the government, after the Trump administration canceled its federal grants in what the university alleges is a bid to "coerce and control" it. In a statement on the False Claims Act inquiry, a Harvard spokesperson said the school is committed to following the law. The investigation represents "yet another abusive and retaliatory action – the latest of many – that the administration has initiated against Harvard since the University was forced to defend itself from harmful overreach against higher education," the university said. In the memo on Monday, Blanche said the new fraud initiative will be co-led by the Civil Division's Fraud Section and the Civil Rights Division. He added that each division would assign a team of attorneys to "aggressively pursue" this work. He also said that each of the country's 93 U.S. Attorneys' offices will be required to tap a prosecutor to contribute to the effort.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US Justice Dept takes next steps to merge ATF and DEA, sources say
By Sarah N. Lynch and Brad Heath WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department plans to press ahead with a merger of its two agencies that investigate drug and firearms offenses, though the effort would still need approval from Congress, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In a meeting on Thursday, officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were informed that the merger could be executed as soon as October, one of the sources said, speaking anonymously because the discussions are not public. As part of that plan, the White House is expected to propose consolidating the budgets for both agencies when it releases its full fiscal year 2026 spending proposal, the four sources told Reuters. Such a move would require congressional approval. Currently, the federal spending law in place explicitly states that no funds appropriated for the ATF can be transferred to other agencies or departments. A spokesman for the Justice Department referred questions to the White House Office of Management and Budget. A spokesperson for OMB could not be immediately reached. The proposal to merge the ATF and DEA first surfaced in March, when Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche floated the idea in a memo that proposed a broader series of major structural changes at the Justice Department. The proposal at the time caught officials in both law enforcement agencies by surprise. Many aspects of the other re-organization proposals in Blanche's memo, such as breaking up the department's Tax Division and Consumer Protection Branch, have already received a green light and are proceeding, according to an internal email reviewed by Reuters that was sent out earlier this month to employees in the Criminal Division. A merger of the ATF and DEA would represent one of the biggest shakeups of the Justice Department since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It would also pose a challenging task for the Justice Department to seamlessly try to combine the DEA's complex role of regulating pharmacies, doctors and drug manufactures, and the ATF's responsibility for regulating the firearms industry. Earlier this month, the White House released a scaled-back "skinny" version of its fiscal 2026 budget which proposed drastic spending cuts for the FBI, the DEA and the ATF. Officials in the ATF and DEA have raised concerns that merging the budgets of the two agencies would still not cover the cost of their operating expenses, one of the sources said.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
White House seeks budget cuts for Justice Department law enforcement offices, sources say
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is poised to ask Congress to cut funding for several of the Justice Department's law enforcement offices under a budget proposal that would likely hamper its ability to carry out the Trump administration's pledge to crack down on violent crime, three sources familiar with the matter said. The fiscal-year 2026 budget proposal calls for cutting the budgets for the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI, said the sources, who spoke anonymously because the budget had not been made public. The White House proposal calls for a roughly $1.2 billion budget for ATF in fiscal 2026, which would be down from its current funding level of about $1.625 billion, two of the sources said. If enacted, that would be the agency's lowest budget since at least 2016, one added. The DEA, meanwhile, would see its current budget of $2.6 billion cut to $2.5 billion, while the FBI would have its $10.6 billion budget cut to $10.1 billion if the White House proposal is enacted by Congress, the two sources added. The Justice Department has been mulling whether to merge the ATF with the DEA, a proposal opposed by many gun-rights and gun-control groups as well as by agents at both agencies. Derek Maltz - who has been overseeing the DEA until the Senate can confirm Terry Cole, Trump's pick for its administrator - is stepping down on Friday, two other people familiar with his plans said. The proposed cuts to the DEA, ATF and FBI follow an executive order late last month that President Donald Trump said was designed to support law enforcement. It directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to take steps that would allow states, counties and cities to "unleash high-impact local police forces." A Justice Department spokesman said the DOJ would "ensure our resources are effectively allocated to make America safe again." Representatives of the White House, DEA, ATF and FBI did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement that the proposed budget numbers being reported by Reuters are "false," without elaborating. The FBI, DEA and ATF all frequently work with local law enforcement to investigate crimes and analyze complex evidence. The ATF, most notably, played a crucial role in quickly helping to trace the gun used by the suspect who tried to assassinate Trump - who was then the Republican presidential candidate - in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year. The Justice Department, in coordination with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, moved in April to terminate more than 300 criminal justice grants valued at $811 million. Many of them provided funding for police, local prosecutors, court-appointed child advocates and victims services. The White House's proposed cuts to the ATF - which frequently finds itself under fire by pro-gun rights groups because of its role in regulating the firearms industry - would be particularly damaging, the sources said. If enacted, the cuts would force the agency to slash hundreds or more jobs, two of the sources said, in addition to the nearly 600 people who have already accepted the government's deferred resignation option. The agency employs about 5,300, about half of whom are special agents, according to public records. It has been unable to fill about 150 slots for special agents due to budget cuts in 2024, forcing it to cancel its incoming agent classes, two of the sources said. Such a decrease would limit the ATF's ability to assist federal, state and local law enforcement from analyzing key ballistic evidence that is often vital to solving homicides and other gun-related crimes. It would also hamper its ability to help investigate cases involving bombs and arson, a niche area of expertise that many local law enforcement agencies lack, and it would impede it from conducting DNA analysis on shell casings to help solve crimes. The DEA's budget proposal will not support funding for body-worn cameras, the sources said. The DEA quietly ended its body-worn camera program in late March, according to a previously unreported memo seen by Reuters. That memo reversed a policy under former Attorney General Merrick Garland that required all federal agents to wear them. The DEA also just recently lost about 200 employees who took the second wave of deferred resignation offers, another source told Reuters.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US Justice Department unit for drug and food safety cases being disbanded
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Justice Department unit that handles criminal and civil enforcement of U.S. food and drug safety laws is being disbanded as part of an ongoing cost-cutting campaign by President Donald Trump's administration, according to three people familiar with the matter. About 215 people work for the Consumer Protection Branch, part of the Justice Department's Civil Division, including attorneys, support staff and law enforcement agents. It was listed as a possible target for cuts in a March memo by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, first reported by Reuters. A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Although it is located in the Civil Division, the Consumer Protection Branch is an unusual office because its work involves a hybrid of criminal prosecutions and civil enforcement. It handles criminal cases to enforce the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, a federal law that makes it a crime to sell or distribute adulterated or misbranded food or drugs. It also enforces statutes for the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The three sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the plans for disbanding the Consumer Protection Branch. Two of the sources said that the more than 100 attorneys who work in the unit were notified on Thursday about the plans to break it up. Attorneys from the unit who handle criminal cases will be relocated to the department's Criminal Division while the rest of the unit's employees will remain in the Civil Division, the three sources said. Some who do primarily legal defense work for the Food and Drug Administration will be transferred to the Justice Department's federal programs branch, they said. It remains unclear where others will be placed, according to two of the sources. The target date to complete the changes is by the end of the current fiscal year, which is September 30, one of the sources said. The plans to disband the branch were reported earlier by the American Prospect news outlet. The Consumer Protection Branch has been at the heart of some high-profile cases. Walgreens this week reached a settlement with the Justice department in a case involving the branch and agreed to pay $350 million for illegally filling unlawful opioid prescriptions and filing false claims to the government. Prosecutors from the branch also brought the criminal case against former executives at Peanut Corporation for crimes that led to a 2009 outbreak involving more than 700 cases of salmonella poisoning.
