Federal Government Department
Appears in 12 stories
The federal department that released over 3.5 million pages of Epstein-related documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, including the emails that form the basis of the investigation. - Released Epstein files that triggered the investigation
The last time British police arrested a senior member of the royal family, the monarch in question lost his head. Nearly four centuries later, on February 19, 2026, Thames Valley Police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — the former Prince Andrew and brother of King Charles III — on suspicion of misconduct in public office, making him the first senior British royal to face criminal investigation in modern history. The next day, police executed search warrants at Royal Lodge, a 30-room Windsor estate, and Wood Farm in Norfolk, seizing potential evidence.
Updated Feb 20
The Justice Department investigated Epstein for years and now must expose its own handling of him. - Ordered to release Epstein and Maxwell records under tight statutory deadlines
Jeffrey Epstein is dead, but his paper trail has created a constitutional crisis. On January 30, 2026, the Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of documents, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images—declaring full compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act despite releasing only about half of the 6 million pages it reviewed. Within hours, attorneys representing hundreds of survivors discovered catastrophic failures: at least 43 victims' full names were exposed, including two dozen who were minors when abused, alongside nearly 40 unredacted nude photos; a Wall Street Journal review found some victim names appeared over 100 times. Attorney Brad Edwards, representing about 300 survivors, called it "literally thousands of mistakes" and potentially "the single most egregious violation of victim privacy in one day in United States history."
Updated Feb 4
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is the federal executive agency responsible for enforcing U.S. law, overseeing the FBI and federal prosecutors, and managing special counsel appointments. - Executive branch department at the center of disputes over Trump prosecutions and alleged 'weaponization'
In November 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee two high‑risk investigations into Donald Trump: his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar‑a‑Lago. Both probes produced federal indictments in 2023, placing a former president on track to face criminal trials over alleged election subversion and mishandling of national‑security secrets.
The agency that can make TikTok’s U.S. distribution either legally safe or legally toxic. - Primary enforcement authority for the TikTok sell-or-ban law
The deal closed on January 22, 2026. TikTok's U.S. operations now belong to TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC—a new entity where Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi's MGX each hold 15%, existing ByteDance investor affiliates hold 30.1%, and ByteDance itself retains exactly 19.9%. The ownership math clears the statutory threshold, but the hard work starts now: Oracle must replicate and retrain the recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data alone, while ByteDance loses access to American data flows and direct control over the feed that made TikTok dominant.
Updated Jan 22
Justice now both processes Trump’s pardons and reviews whether Peters was treated fairly by Colorado. - Administers federal pardons and has scrutinized Colorado’s handling of the Peters case.
President Trump pardoned former Mesa County, Colorado clerk Tina Peters in December 2025 over her nine-year state prison sentence for letting election conspiracy activists copy voting-machine data. The pardon has no legal effect on her state conviction, yet it triggered an escalating confrontation: Peters' lawyers filed appeals demanding her release, the Trump administration was accused of retaliating against Colorado by withholding federal funds, and in a stunning turn, Democratic Governor Jared Polis called her sentence 'harsh' and signaled he may grant clemency.
Updated Jan 10
Federal agency reviewing merger's competitive impact under Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. - Conducting antitrust review of merger
Getty Images and Shutterstock announced a $3.7 billion merger on January 7, 2025. The two largest stock photo companies will control roughly 75% of the global market. Getty shareholders get 54.7% of the combined company, Shutterstock gets 45.3%.
Updated Jan 7
DOJ supplies the warrants that turn interdiction footage into a court case. - Providing warrants and forfeiture pathways that make sea actions legally defensible
The U.S. Coast Guard is now chasing a third Venezuela-linked tanker in international waters near Venezuela—under a judicial seizure order. Two other tankers have already been stopped in the past 11 days, including one dramatic helicopter boarding that the administration amplified on social media.
Updated Dec 21, 2025
The administration’s litigation engine, now trying to resurrect a funding-freeze strategy a judge rejected. - Filed the appeal; represents the administration in the consolidated litigation
Harvard won. A federal judge said the government unlawfully cut off Harvard’s research money—then ordered the taps turned back on. Now the Trump administration is appealing, keeping a cloud over a sprawling research portfolio that runs from medical breakthroughs to national-security science.
Updated Dec 19, 2025
The Justice Department will be the White House’s spearpoint in court against state AI laws. - Ordered to launch an AI Litigation Task Force targeting state AI laws.
Donald Trump just turned AI regulation into a states’ rights knife fight. His new executive order creates a Justice Department “AI Litigation Task Force” to attack state AI laws and lets Washington threaten $42 billion in broadband funds for states that don’t fall in line.
Updated Dec 12, 2025
The Justice Department turns maritime raids into court cases and asset forfeitures. - Provides the legal framework and forfeiture process for tanker seizures like the Skipper.
A US Coast Guard team fast-roped from helicopters onto the supertanker Skipper off Venezuela’s coast. Within hours, President Donald Trump was bragging in Washington that the United States had just seized one of the world’s largest tankers and would likely keep the oil.
Updated Dec 11, 2025
The federal department that led the FIFA crackdown is now stepping back from its marquee case. - Brought and is now moving to drop the Lopez–Full Play case amid wider anti‑corruption retrenchment
U.S. prosecutors spent years proving that Hernan Lopez, a former Fox International Channels CEO, and the sports marketing firm Full Play bribed South American soccer officials to lock down lucrative TV rights. A Brooklyn jury convicted them in 2023, a judge threw those convictions out, an appeals court revived them in July 2025—and now the government is telling the Supreme Court it wants the whole case dismissed in “the interests of justice.”
DOJ is turning a patchwork of Russian cyber incidents into a coordinated legal and diplomatic campaign. - Bringing criminal cases against Dubranova and coordinating broader actions against Russian cyber actors
A 33-year-old Ukrainian woman now sits at the center of Washington’s latest cyber drama. U.S. prosecutors say Victoria Dubranova helped two Russia-backed hacker crews hit water systems, food facilities, and other infrastructure, turning online “hacktivism” into covert state work.
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