WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has agreed to a “very substantial” payout and is apologizing to tea party groups to settle lawsuits over the extra, often burdensome IRS scrutiny they received when applying for tax-exempt status during the 2012 election. Eddie Greim, a lawyer representing more than 400 groups in a class-action suit, provided … Continue reading
SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department asked a judge Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 to throw out a lawsuit from Microsoft and keep a law that prohibits technology companies from telling customers when the government demands their electronic data. Microsoft says its customers have a constitutional right to know when the government collects their private … Continue reading
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Two things stand out about this week’s indictment of a white former South Carolina police officer on federal civil rights charges in the death of unarmed black motorist Walter Scott: Such charges from the feds against an officer are relatively rare, and they send a message. Michael Slager, 34, already faces … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The man accused of killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic brought several guns, ammunition and propane tanks that officials say he assembled around a car. For hours, he holed up inside the clinic, unleashing a fusillade that wounded nine others and sent shoppers scattering inside surrounding buildings during a … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — General Motors agreed to pay $900 million to fend off criminal prosecution over the deadly ignition-switch scandal, striking a deal that brought criticism down on the Justice Department for not bringing charges against individual employees. The switches, which can slip out of the “run” position and cut off the engine, have … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stung by recent court decisions that have gone against them, Justice Department lawyers are making a fresh push to clarify a computer trespass law that critics malign as overly broad. The 1986 law, known as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, was intended to punish hackers who breach someone else’s computer network … Continue reading
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A federal judge who has blocked President Barack Obama’s immigration executive action suggested on Thursday, Mar. 19, that he could order sanctions against the Justice Department if he rules it misled him about when exactly the administration began implementing one of the measures. During a sometimes testy court hearing, U.S. … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has reached a $134,000 settlement with a New York woman after federal drug agents used information from her cellphone to set up a fake Facebook page in her identity, a tactic that raised privacy concerns and led to a federal government review of the ruse, according to court … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 