Trump attacks former official picked to review FBI reforms
WASHINGTON – Taking a cue from a GOP ally, President Donald Trump on Sunday attacked a former senior Justice Department official appointed by a federal judge to review the FBI’s proposed wiretap application reforms in the wake of a critical inspector general report. “You can’t make this up! David Kris, a highly controversial former DOJ […]
Tool used for searches at law firms may be at risk
WASHINGTON – Last spring, more than a dozen federal agents spent six hours searching the law firm of a prominent Maryland attorney, sweeping up thousands of emails, files and other documents in a money laundering and obstruction investigation. A federal appeals court panel subsequently declared the government’s review of the seized material invalid in a […]
FBI asks Apple for help cracking Florida gunman’s iPhones
The FBI is pressing Apple for help opening iPhones that belonged to the Saudi military student who killed three people last month at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, signaling a potential revival of the fight between the federal government and Silicon Valley over encryption technology. On Monday, FBI General Counsel Dana Boente wrote a […]
Surveillance court demands answers from FBI for errors, omissions in Trump campaign investigation
WASHINGTON – The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday ordered the government to explain what the FBI will do to ensure the bureau does not mislead judges again when applying for surveillance orders like those used in the 2016 investigation of the Trump campaign. The four-page order from Judge Rosemary Collyer, the presiding judge of […]
Wray: Report on Russia probe found ‘unacceptable’ problems
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Justice Department inspector general report on the early days of the Russia investigation identified problems that are “unacceptable and unrepresentative of who we are as an institution,” FBI Director Chris Wray says in detailing changes the bureau plans to make in response. In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Wray […]
Yates County man admits to child porn charge
A Yates County man has pleaded guilty to federal pornography charges. Jeffrey Maciejewski, 26, of Penn Yan, NY, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. to possession of child pornography. Maciejewski is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, supervised release for life and a $250,000 fine. In […]
Draft DOJ IG report finds FBI lawyer altered document
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department inspector general has found evidence that an FBI employee may have altered a document connected to court-approved surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser, but has concluded that the conduct did not affect the overall validity of the surveillance application, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The person […]
FBI seeks interview with whistleblower who triggered impeachment inquiry
WASHINGTON – The FBI is seeking an interview with a CIA whistleblower whose complaint led to an impeachment inquiry into whether President Donald Trump abused his office in his dealings with the Ukrainian president, according to three people familiar with the matter. A special agent with the bureau’s Washington Field Office first contacted one of […]
Justice Department watchdog tells Russia report witnesses they can’t give written feedback – then reverses course
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department inspector general’s office told witnesses set to review draft sections of its long-awaited report on the FBI investigation of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign that they would not be allowed to submit written feedback, but later asserted that was not their intention after a Washington Post report disclosing the unusual […]
The FBI’s search for information on Americans violated law, judge says
The FBI on several occasions in recent years queried the government’s foreign intelligence holdings seeking information on Americans – including its own personnel – doing so in violation of surveillance law and constitutional privacy protections, according to a newly disclosed court ruling. Though senior FBI officials flagged the issues, and the Justice Department reported the [&hell[...]
Peter Strzok sues FBI for firing him over anti-Trump texts
WASHINGTON (AP) — A veteran FBI agent who wrote derogatory text messages about Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Tuesday charging that the bureau caved to “unrelenting pressure” from the president when it fired him. The suit from Peter Strzok also alleges he was unfairly punished for expressing his political opinions, and that the Justice Department […]
Wray says FBI has recorded about 100 domestic terrorism arrests in fiscal 2019 and most investigations involve white supremacy
WASHINGTON – FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers Tuesday that the bureau has recorded about 100 arrests of domestic terrorism suspects in the past nine months and that most investigations of that kind involve some form of white supremacy – though an FBI spokeswoman later clarified the percentage is smaller. The figure, which Wray conceded […]
Case Digests
- Fourth Department – Negligent performance: Rosenthal v. Syracuse University, et al.
- Second Circuit – Visual Artists Rights Act: Kerson v. Vermont Law School Inc.
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Former foreclosure referee: Opinion 22-157
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – College honorarium: Opinion 22-156
- Second Circuit – Reasonable accommodation: Tafolla v. Heilig
- Fourth Department – Labor Law: Primisch v. Peroxychem LLC
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Judicial candidacy: Opinion 22-155
- Fourth Department – Defamation: Lavine v. Glavin
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Law clerk: Opinion 22-154
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Review of another judge’s actions: Opinion 22-153
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Charitable contributions: Opinion 22-150
- Second Circuit – Class action settlement: Moses v. The New York Times Company
Law News
- Appeals court upholds conviction
- Federal lawsuit reinstated against jail officer over strip search, delayed release
- Hyzon to pay $25M penalty to settle alleged fraud charges by SEC
- NY appeals court reinstates lawsuit over contract to remove snow
- Fourth Department affirms $400K judgment in contract dispute
- Fourth Department affirms decision in NY property dispute
- Greenlight Networks selects Buffalo-based attorney as general counsel
- Barclay Damon hires attorney Matt Smith