A suspected al-Qaeda operative is now in the hands of civilian law enforcement after spending nearly six years at a South Carolina military prison without charges, according to the Justice Department.
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was indicted in February for conspiring to aid Al-Qaeda. He could face up to 30 years in an Illinois prison, if convicted.
Al-Marri, a [...]

Sen. Arlen Specter’s political troubles in Pennsylvania are creating a hurdle to Dawn Johnsen’s confirmation as head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

The unanimous vote for Lanny Breuer as head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division was 88-0. Civil Division chief Tony West was confirmed by a vote of 82-4, and Christine Varney was confirmed to lead the Antitrust Division by a vote of 87-1.

The former Office of Legal Counsel chief last year suggested to colleagues he wasn’t proud of the quality of his legal work in the Bush administration, The Washington Post reports. Amid calls for his removal from the federal bench, Bybee has retained Latham & Watkins’ Maureen Mahoney.

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu said today she wants U.S. Attorney Jim Letten in New Orleans to stay on the job. She is the second Democratic senator to come out in favor of keeping a Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said he will back the nomination of Dawn Johnsen, Obama’s pick to head the Office of Legal Counsel, The Journal Gazette reports.

The Senate approved a resolution by voice vote last night that stripped party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter of seniority on all committees. It wasn’t immediately clear why Democrats abandoned their earlier promise to retain Specter’s seniority. But now the 28-year Senate veteran and former Judiciary chairman will have to go to the back of the line.

Students and faculty at Truman State University are protesting the college’s decision to give former Attorney General John Ashcroft a honorary degree, The Associcated Press reported today.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received a rebuke from the American people on her handling of the harsh interrogations matter, according to a Gallup poll released today.

House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) refused to make any further comments on the ongoing interrogation briefings saga today at her weekly press conference.

The Deputy Attorney General affirmed the DOJ’s commitment to the August 2008 “Filip Memo,” which said prosecutors could no longer require companies to waive attorney-client privilege in order to receive credit for cooperating in a criminal investigation.

Federal Judge Jeremy Fogel has referred a lawsuit against Sanford Wallace, the self-professed “king of spam,” to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California for a possible criminal investigation.

The Office of Professional Responsibility has been revising the ethics report to reflect input from the lawyers under investigation, Attorney General Eric Holder testified today. Holder also defended his efforts against terrorism and to restore credibility to the Justice Department.

A newly-declassified staff monograph composed by the 9/11 commission sheds new light on “the wall” between intelligence and law enforcement personnel that has blocked the sharing of information within the U.S. government.

With the exception of Civil Rights Division nominee Tom Perez, several DOJ nominations still pending before the Senate appear stalled at least until after the August congressional recess.

Attorney General Eric Holder, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) came out against the Supreme Court’s ruling today that DNA testing is not a constitutional right for people who try to prove their innocence after they were convicted.

The government argues against release of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s 2004 interview with Patrick Fitzgerald about the Valerie Plame leak, saying it could provide fodder for “The Daily Show.”

Allen Stanford, chairman of Stanford Financial Group, three of his executives, and the former head of the Antiguan bank regulatory agency have been indicted on fraud and obstruction charges relating to Stanford’s $7 billion ponzi scheme.

The Supreme Court decided today not to consider a lawsuit accusing former Bush administration members of illegally disclosing the identity of then-CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin was approached by two people who asked him to fake his own death so that he wouldn’t have to testify against two former AIPAC lobbyists.

The Justice Department defended the Bush adminstration’s position that criminal defendants have no constitutional right to obtain DNA evidence post-conviction, but Attorney General Eric Holder says such access makes good policy.

His rationale? As the dismissal of talented soldiers damages our national security, people will realize the urgency of reversing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Several Environmental Protection Agency attorneys told ProPublica they doubt Ignacia Moreno has the right stuff to lead the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Chris Christie looks unstoppable in the New Jersey governor’s race this fall, despite the best efforts of Democrats to raise questions about lucrative court-monitoring contracts he doled out to friends and mentors when he was the U.S. Attorney.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which President Obama promised to reconstitute in May, was removed from the White House website with no public notice.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) isn’t happy with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for introducing the legislation to the Defense Authorization Bill.