Latest news with #WeaponizationWorkingGroup
Politico
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Office of Special Counsel to probe potential Hatch Act violations by former Special Counsel Jack Smith
Trump and his allies have argued that Smith — who was chosen by former Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead the federal criminal investigations into Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his handling of classified documents — was conducting a 'witch hunt.' Two weeks before the election, Trump said that Smith should be 'thrown out of the country.' 'Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged and he should be thrown out of the country,' Trump said on a radio show in October. The Justice Department has focused much of its resources and time — as it deals with the fallout and criticism from its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein saga — on the alleged wrongdoings of former Biden DOJ officials, including Smith. Earlier this year, it launched the 'Weaponization Working Group,' which is tasked with, among other things, reviewing efforts by Smith's team during the Biden administration. The investigation was first reported on Friday by the New York Post. Neither the White House nor a representative for Smith immediately responded to requests for comment. Since Smith is a former government employee, it's not entirely clear what action the independent agency could take if it finds he violated the Hatch Act. When asked about potential actions against Smith, an OSC spokesperson declined to comment.
NBC News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Pam Bondi dismissed charges in alleged Covid scam after the case had passed review for 'weaponization'
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials had already reviewed a criminal case against a Utah doctor accused of selling fake Covid vaccination cards and allowed it to proceed before Attorney General Pam Bondi suddenly intervened over the weekend and ordered the case dismissed, a defense attorney said. Dr. Michael Kirk Moore was on trial last week in a case involving claims that more than $28,000 in Covid-19 vaccinations were destroyed as part of an alleged scheme involving the issuance of fake vaccine cards. Moore was indicted on the charges in 2023. On Saturday, Bondi announced on the platform X that she was ordering the charges against Moore dismissed, writing that the doctor "gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so." Bondi said the dismissal 'would not have been possible' without Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and thanked Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Moore's attorney, Kathy Nester, told NBC News that she submitted information about the case for review by Justice Department leadership earlier this year after Bondi announced the formation of a " Weaponization Working Group" to investigate claims of federal law enforcement being used against Trump allies and advocates. 'As an advocate for my client, I just wanted to try anything we could to help him,' Nester said. 'I thought the weaponization committee was interesting and new and might fall under the type of cases they would be interested in reviewing.' As first reported by Bloomberg Law, Nester submitted the case to the Justice Department group back in April and asked for it to be reviewed. A counsel for the office of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told her they declined to move to end the prosecution. "When I got the word they were not going to intervene, I just started getting ready for trial and did not pursue any more political avenues," Nester said. Bondi's decision to drop the case over the weekend came at a time when the attorney general is facing blowback from Trump supporters over the Justice Department not releasing more information about the Jeffrey Epstein case. It's unclear if there will be additional fallout from the Moore case. Acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti signed paperwork to have the case dismissed. Other career prosecutors who had worked on the case did not sign onto the dismissal filing. On Friday, Bondi fired numerous Justice Department employees who had previously worked with former Special Counsel Jack Smith on the investigations into Trump over his handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
CBS News
12-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Justice Department purge continues, firings include Trump classified document case investigators and Jan. 6 prosecutors
The ongoing purge of Justice Department officials who investigated President Trump and his allies continued this week, with the Justice Department firing more than 20 employees who worked on the investigations, sources told CBS News. The firings, one source familiar with the terminations said, included more than 20 people who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith's classified documents case against Mr. Trump and Smith's investigation into Mr. Trump's attempts to overturn election results in 2020. There have been at least 35 firings of Justice Department employees who worked for Smith on the two investigations he oversaw, and at least 15 more could be fired, the source said. Sources told CBS News that among those fired were paralegals who worked for Smith's office, finance and support staff, and two additional Justice Department prosecutors in North Carolina and Florida. Three other top Jan. 6 prosecutors were fired in June. The staffers were identified by the Justice Department's so-called "weaponization working group" which Attorney General Pam Bondi established as one of her first priorities after she was confirmed, one source said. The attorney general established the "weaponization working group" to review Biden administration law enforcement policies, according to the source. The group is reviewing the two federal cases against Mr. Trump pursued by former special counsel Smith and is examining prosecutions of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It is also reviewing the Trump legal cases in New York — the "hush money" trial pursued by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the civil enforcement action against the Trump Organization brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James — neither of which involved federal prosecutors. As the Justice Department began collecting information about the FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 investigations and fired career prosecutors who worked on the cases, Bondi said in her directive that the working group would investigate "improper investigative tactics and unethical prosecutions" versus "good faith actions by federal employees simply following orders." CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment on the firings. One of the staffers who has been fired was Patty Hartman, who served as a top public affairs specialist at the FBI and federal prosecutors' offices. Hartman was fired Monday via a letter from the attorney general. She worked on the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney's Office public affairs team that distributed news releases about the more than 1,500 Jan. 6 criminal prosecutions. In an interview with CBS News, Hartman warned of a continuing wave of retribution inside the agency. "The rules don't exist anymore," Hartman said. "There used to be a line, used to be a very distinct separation between the White House and the Department of Justice, because one should not interfere with the work of the other. That line is very definitely gone." The purge of Justice Department employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases began shortly after Mr. Trump's second inauguration, when he installed a former Jan. 6 defense attorney, Ed Martin, as the acting top prosecutor in Washington, D.C. Mr. Trump and his supporters have downplayed the damage, injuries and trauma of the Capitol siege and have sought to recast convicted rioters as "political prisoners." The mass pardon of nearly all of the approximately 1,500 defendants shuttered the prosecutions in January.
New York Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Who Threatened Police Joins Justice Dept.
A former F.B.I. agent who was charged with encouraging the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to kill police officers has been named as an adviser to the Justice Department task force that President Trump established to seek retribution against his political enemies. The former agent, Jared L. Wise, is serving as a counselor to Ed Martin, the director of the so-called Weaponization Working Group, according to people familiar with the group's activities. Mr. Martin, a longtime supporter of Jan. 6 defendants, was put in charge of the weaponization group in May after Mr. Trump withdrew his name for a Senate-confirmed position as the U.S. attorney in Washington. His nomination faltered in part because of the work he had done as an advocate and defense lawyer for people charged in connection with the Capitol attack. Even in a Justice Department that has often been pressed into serving Mr. Trump's political agenda, the appointment of Mr. Wise to the weaponization task force was a remarkable development. His selection meant that a man who had urged violence against police officers was now responsible for the department's official effort to exact revenge against those who had tried to hold the rioters accountable. It remains unclear exactly what role Mr. Wise will play as Mr. Martin's adviser. But one person familiar with the working group's activities said that Mr. Martin was proud to have Mr. Wise on his team, adding that there was no better person to serve on the weaponization task force than someone who had experienced the federal government being weaponized against him. If 'we could genetically design an adviser' to Mr. Martin, the person said, he would look like Mr. Wise. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Durbin launches investigation into Ed Martin
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has launched an investigation into Ed Martin, who serves as both the pardon attorney and head of the new Weaponization Working Group. Durbin cited Martin's 'disgraceful tenure' in a prior role as well as his 'stated threats to abuse his positions at DOJ' as the rationale behind igniting the probe. The letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asks for all Martin's communications relating both to pardons and any work undertaken for the new working group. 'Following his disgraceful tenure as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Mr. Martin apparently plans to continue his misconduct in his new roles at DOJ,' he wrote. Durbin pointed to a May 13 press conference Martin held before heading to his new role, saying he plans to 'shame those [who the] DOJ does not have the evidence to charge.' 'If they can't be charged, we will name them … and in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are shamed,'' Martin said. Durbin said the statement was an 'admission' he plans to abuse his power. 'These statements are a brazen admission that Mr. Martin plans to systematically violate the Justice Manual's prohibition on extrajudicial statements by shaming uncharged parties for nakedly partisan reasons,' Durbin wrote. 'This plan clearly violates Mr. Martin's obligations under the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibit prosecutors from '[making] extrajudicial comments which serve to heighten condemnation of the accused.' Weaponizing DOJ in this manner will further undermine the public's trust in the department in irreparable ways.' Durbin also questioned Martin's oversight of a series of pardons given by Trump that benefited his political allies. The senator noted the recent pardon for nursing home executive Paul Walczak for tax fraud just three weeks after Walczak's mother paid $1 million to attend a Trump fundraiser. Trump also pardoned Trevor Milton, founder of Nikola Corporation, after Milton donated nearly $2 million to the Trump campaign last year, among others. 'Mr. Martin's bald-faced 'pay to play' strategy is abusing the Office of the Pardon Attorney in multiple ways to benefit President Trump and his political allies,' Durbin wrote. Martin is also planning a review of former President Biden's pardon's, included those given to his family members. DOJ did not respond to request for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
