Besides slowing down Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the formation of telecom monopolies, if there's one thing the Justice Department can't resist, it's $16 muffins or $7 Beef Wellington bites. A report [pdf] released by the DOJ's inspector general found that in conferences it hosted from 2007 through 2009, the department paid way too much for coffee, candybars, and a bunch of other overpriced food that the lawyers need to feel special. more ›

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit earlier today to bar AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, the AP reports. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said in a press conference that the deal would culminate in "tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for mobile wireless users." Aw, c'mon! We stockpiled nights and weekend minutes in preparation for AT&T-world-order for nothing? more ›

Christmas yachts this year may lack a 4th wet bar at Goldman Sachs, as shares of the firm fell 5 percent, erasing $2.7 billion off of the company's value. They've since recovered slightly, but investors are skittish because Lloyd Blankfein has hired criminal defense attorney Reid Weingarten due to the ongoing DOJ investigation of Goldman related to toxic mortgage-backed securities, the Times reports. Gee, why does everybody seem to think there's wrongdoing related to the propagation and sale of these securities? more ›

The Department of Justice has put out a call for Ebonics translators to help monitor, translate, and transcribe the secretly recorded conversations of subjects of narcotics investigations, according to documents released by The Smoking Gun. The DOJ wants to hire up to nine people to work with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division. Ebonics is considered one of 114 different "common" and "exotic" languages for which prospective contractors must be able to provide linguists; Ebonics is listed as a “common language” spoken solely in the U.S. more ›

Before it goes into effect on July 29th, the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally, and requires anyone whom police reasonably suspect to be an illegal alien (i.e. Mexicans) to produce documents of proof that they are citizens or legal residents. They say the federal government has "preeminent authority" over immigration, and that the law is "invalid." The suit claims, "The United States Constitution forbids Arizona from supplanting the federal government's immigration regime with its own state-specific immigration policy. A policy that, in purpose and effect, interferes with the numerous interests the federal government must balance." more ›

Yesterday, the Justice Department released tons of materials related to its investigation of the 2001 anthrax letter attacks as it closed the books on the case. According to the Washington Post, "The records offer substantial support for the FBI's contention that biologist Bruce E. Ivins single-handedly prepared and mailed deadly anthrax spores that killed five people and terrorized a nation still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington... [The documents] starkly portray the mental unraveling of the deceased Army scientist accused of committing the worst act of bioterrorism in U.S. history." more ›

Opponents of extending term limits staged a rally on the steps of City Hall today as a last ditch plea to the Department of Justice to get in the way of Mayor Bloomberg's hopes for a third term. Tomorrow is the deadline for the Department to decide whether the term limits extension passed by City Council in November should be tossed out on the grounds that it unfairly impedes minority voters. more ›

The mammoth Avalon Chrystie Place rental building on Chrystie, between Houston and Stanton, is facing a federal lawsuit from the Department of Justice. The DOJ accuses developer AvalonBay Communities of, per the NY Times, "illegally discriminating against disabled people by failing to provide them with sufficient access at a 361-unit rental building on the Lower East Side." more ›

Federal prosecutors have asked the NY State Inspector General to "refrain from launching" its own investigation into former Governor Spitzer activities (the Post translates it as "a double-life as a sleazy harlot-hopper"). Why? Because the feds says they are "looking at all aspects." Well, why not, when it seems that the feds used "some of its most intrusive tactics" against Spitzer during the investigation. more ›