Former FBI officials ask judge to dismiss Hunter Biden laptop charges as politically motivated

🔮 Target letters are sometimes issued to people the department intends to indict, but they do not necessarily mean someone will be charged.

🔮 It is among a handful of Senate contests this year expected to determine control of the chamber.

🔮 He said he regarded it as a “huge distraction” from his other work and appreciated that the investigation could be seen as political.

🔮 The Justice Department has historically sought to avoid major action before an election The law enforcement agency has a long-accepted practice of avoiding overt investigative actions against candidates in the weeks before an election, or other public steps that could be perceived as attempting to influence a political outcome.

🔮 Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or by someone else with the parent’s consent.

🔮 Both officials said the death toll was preliminary and could change.

🔮 Rodríguez deported Saab to the U.S. in May.

🔮 Emily Covington, a spokesperson for the department, said group boycotts among business competitors might violate U.S. law.

🔮 One judge at the center of the report, Patrick Schiltz, accused the government in January of ignoring roughly 100 court orders, stating in a ruling that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within DHS, "is not a law unto itself." Schiltz, nominated by Republican President George W. Bush and a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, told the newspaper that the situation in Minnesota's federal court last winter "created a grave threat to the rule of law." In a Wednesday statement, Schiltz insisted he was "acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to The New York Times." He noted a February advisory opinion from the Committee on Codes of Conduct reaffirming that federal judges may speak or write "on core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence,'" stating: "That is exactly what I did." The complaint was delivered to the chief judge of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which supervises Minnesota federal courts. The Republican administration frequently attacks what it calls "activist judges" supposedly intent on thwarting Trump’s agenda. Yet some of the most critical and unfavorable court rulings have originated from jurists nominated by Trump and other Republican presidents.

🔮 WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal indictments against President Donald Trump, will tell lawmakers on Tuesday that he “will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the Trump administration and that he believes the rule of law is being threatened like never before.

🔮 Target letters are sometimes issued to people the department intends to indict, but they do not necessarily mean someone will be charged.

🔮 "I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend that I cannot read a calendar," Faruqui said.

🔮 Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey will ask a federal judge on Friday to block the Justice Department from pursuing its third criminal case against the outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and frequent target of Republican outrage.

🔮 He said he regarded it as a “huge distraction” from his other work and appreciated that the investigation could be seen as political.

🔮 A dismissal of the complaint would not prevent the Justice Department from attempting to get a indictment, but that could be a challenge given that grand juries in the nation’s capital have repeatedly refused to approve charges in politically sensitive cases.

🔮 The Justice Department has historically sought to avoid major action before an election The law enforcement agency has a long-accepted practice of avoiding overt investigative actions against candidates in the weeks before an election, or other public steps that could be perceived as attempting to influence a political outcome.

🔮 “Given the substantial public attention devoted to this matter, and the significant questions raised concerning the conduct of federal officials, declining independent review would risk undermining public confidence in the Department’s ability to police its own conduct.

🔮 Witkoff, a key Trump administration envoy who has tried without success to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement to end a war that will hit the five-year mark in February, thanked Putin for releasing Hubbard, telling him, “Because of you, he’s going home to his family.”

🔮 Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or by someone else with the parent’s consent.

🔮 Both officials said the death toll was preliminary and could change.