Ben Penn
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Senior reporter, Department of Justice @BLaw | @UMWallaceHouse alum | [email protected]
Washington, DC
Joined October 2010
Deep dive w/@maia_spoto: LA US Attorney Bill Essayli has ignored counsel of sr prosecutors, instructed staff to disregard DOJ policies & forced lawyers to redo indictment failures before new grand juries - once yelling "F*&k the Justice Manual.".
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NEWS: Trump nominates Florida prosecutor Tysen Duva to lead DOJ's criminal division--a critical role overseeing white collar & violent crime. The WH buried this news by naming intent to nominate Duva yesterday without specifying his position.
news.bloomberglaw.com
President Donald Trump has nominated Andrew Tysen Duva, a federal prosecutor based in Jacksonville, Fla., to lead the Justice Department’s criminal division, a critical role overseeing white collar...
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Essayli arrived as temporary US atty in April, shortly thereafter met w/ Wiederhorn, Fat Brands defense attorneys without inviting the line attorneys on the case - per my reporting w/ @maia_spoto earlier today
news.bloomberglaw.com
In the three-plus months Bill Essayli has run the Los Angeles US Attorney’s Office, he has ignored and overruled the recommendations of senior prosecutors, instructed staff to disregard Justice...
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RT @maia_spoto: DOJ moved today to dismiss the felony indictment of a man charged over allegedly distributing face shields to Los Angeles p….
news.bloomberglaw.com
Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment of a man charged for distributing face shields to anti-deportation protesters in Los Angeles.
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This is the case in which lead prosecutor Adam Schleifer had been fired in March by the White House at the urging of Laura Loomer.
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NEWS: Justice Dept dismisses major fraud case against Trump donor & Fat Brands founder (Fatburger, Johnny Rockets) Andrew Wiederhorn. The filing from embattled US Attorney Bill Essayli comes an hour before his new DOJ appointment to stay on takes effect.
news.bloomberglaw.com
The Justice Department has moved to dismiss corporate fraud charges against Andrew Wiederhorn, a Trump donor who is founder and chairman of restaurant franchisor FAT Brands Inc.
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RT @JamesQueallyLAT: Even more reporting out of the chaos in @USAttyEssayli office, this time from @BLaw -- echoes some of our reporting la….
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New: Trump appoints Nevada US Attorney Sigal Chattah as acting, before her interim ended. Nevada Dems forcefully opposed her & judges hadn't said publicly whether they'd appoint her. Did DOJ preemptively extend Chattah to avoid Habba 2.0 battle w/ bench?
news.bloomberglaw.com
President Donald Trump has extended the term of the interim US Attorney in Nevada, Sigal Chattah, changing her status to “acting,” in a potential escalation of the Justice Department’s confrontation...
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RT @mylesmill: NEW: A federal prosecutor who helped convict Jan. 6 rioters is speaking out after being fired by the DOJ. He says the dismis….
bloomberg.com
Michael Gordon’s name never made headlines, but the cases he handled did. As a federal prosecutor in Tampa, Florida, he went after fentanyl dealers, armed robbers, and drug crews. When the Justice...
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RT @SuzanneMonyak: No headwinds yet for DOJ official Emil Bove, Trump's controversial nominee for a seat on a federal appellate court. Sen….
news.bloomberglaw.com
Two retired members of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit are among more than 75 former federal and state judges opposing Emil Bove’s nomination to that court just as he’s secured support...
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News: AG Pam Bondi's order to dismiss charges against Utah plastic surgeon accused of selling fake Covid vaccine cards ran counter to an earlier decision from her weaponization working group. In April, the group rebuffed an appeal from doctor's lawyer:
news.bloomberglaw.com
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s abrupt order to drop charges against the Utah plastic surgeon accused of selling false Covid vaccination cards came months after Bondi’s weaponization working group...
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RT @HeadleyTiana: The federal judges in the Northern District of New York have declined to appoint John Sarcone, President Donald Trump’s t….
news.bloomberglaw.com
The federal judges in the Northern District of New York have declined to appoint John Sarcone, the Trump administration’s temporary US attorney pick, to permanently serve as their district’s top...
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UPDATE: DOJ Ethic director Tirrell posts his termination letter on LinkedIn. Says his oath “did not come with the caveat that I need only support the Constitution when it is easy or convenient.”
Scoop: Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired her personal ethics chief, Joseph Tirrell. Without explanation, she removes DOJ ethics office director who advised the most senior political appointees (Todd Blanche, Kash Patel, etc.) on conflicts.
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Scoop: Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired her personal ethics chief, Joseph Tirrell. Without explanation, she removes DOJ ethics office director who advised the most senior political appointees (Todd Blanche, Kash Patel, etc.) on conflicts.
news.bloomberglaw.com
Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired her personal ethics adviser, removing the Justice Department’s top official responsible for counseling the most senior political appointees, according to two...
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Trial began last week for this plastic surgeon accused of destroying Covid vaccine and giving patients fraudulent vaccination cards. Dismissal, which is signed today solely by acting US Attorney in Utah, came at urging of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who Bondi has now thanked.
At my direction @TheJusticeDept has dismissed charges against Dr. Kirk Moore. Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so. He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.
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NEW: DOJ whistleblower Reuveni discloses emails, texts that back up his complaint that Emil Bove instructed attorneys to prepare to say "fuck you" to court re: flying immigrants to Salvadoran prison.
news.bloomberglaw.com
A Justice Department whistleblower has disclosed communications reinforcing his allegations that senior DOJ official and judicial nominee Emil Bove coordinated to defy court orders in various...
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Just In: DOJ has installed Francey Hakes, a Trump supporting Fox News commentator, ex-fed prosecutor to run Executive Office for US Attorneys. This is a career role. Her predecessor was forced out.
news.bloomberglaw.com
The Justice Department has installed Francey Hakes, a Fox News commentator loyal to the Trump agenda, to lead a central support office for the nation’s US attorneys.
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RT @Brendan_LyonsTU: Sigh: Interim U.S. attorney orders Times Union removed from media distribution list after story about his boarded-up r….
timesunion.com
The Times Union published a story last month about interim U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III listing a boarded-up residence in Albany as his address.
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Update - the judge presiding over this case is begrudgingly allowing misdemeanor plea for PR governor, but signals she's pretty displeased w/ DOJ's "11th hour" reversal that provides "mere slap on the wrist" & "presumably" was ordered by Main Justice.
news.bloomberglaw.com
A federal judge is allowing the Justice Department’s about-face to provide leniency for Puerto Rico’s former governor and a billionaire banker shortly before a scheduled bribery trial, signaling she...
Scoop: After Trump's personal lawyer complained of weaponization, DOJ leadership ordered prosecutors to settle w/ ex-Puerto Rico governor (who endorsed Trump) & billionaire banker just before their bribery trial. They got misdemeanor plea deals.
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RT @jacq_thomsen: New: Star conservative lawyer Paul Clement has moved to defend Maryland's federal trial judges from a Justice Department….
news.bloomberglaw.com
US district judges in Maryland have hired top conservative litigator Paul Clement to defend them from a Justice Department lawsuit, according to court filings.
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