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Ben Penn

@benjaminpenn.bsky.social

Bloomberg Law reporter covering the Justice Department Bpenn@bloombergindustry.com Signal: benpenn.06

287 Posts2648 Follower216 Folgt
Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 5h ago

ICYMI: Kash Patel aims to shrink FBI general counsel's office. OGC had survived in Trump 2.0 despite Project 2025 calling for its elimination, but there've been increasing tensions between Patel & GC Sam Ramer (who's hardly an obstructionist) this year. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Patel to Reduce FBI Lawyers as General Counsel Tensions Rise (2)

FBI Director Kash Patel is planning to shrink his legal advisory office, deepening divisions with his general counsel as outside lawsuits challenge prior staff terminations, said people familiar with ...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 24h ago

Scoop: FBI Director Kash Patel wants to shrink his general counsel's office, as tensions escalate with bureau's chief legal adviser. OGC is pushing early retirement to reduce staff, but has contemplated terminations. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Patel Aims to Cut FBI Lawyers as General Counsel Tensions Rise

FBI Director Kash Patel is planning to shrink his legal advisory office, deepening divisions with his general counsel as outside lawsuits challenge prior staff terminations, said people familiar with ...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Seth Stern@sethstern.bsky.social · last wk.

The Trump Justice Department likes to say it's doing more cases with fewer prosecutors, but the numbers it heralds in Nevada don't line up with their own case data, report @benjaminpenn.bsky.social and Owen Auston-Babcock news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Data Contradicts Claims of Big Indictment Bump, Review Shows

The Justice Department is overstating the extent to which the Nevada US attorney’s office has increased criminal charges and indictments while losing prosecutors during President Trump’s second term, ...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last wk.

NEW: Justice Dept. claimed indictments are up under fiery Trump loyalist leader in Las Vegas, Sigal Chattah. Our analysis of DOJ’s own case data showed the opposite. My dive with Owen Auston-Babcock: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Data Contradicts Claims of Big Indictment Bump, Review Shows

The Justice Department is overstating the extent to which the Nevada US attorney’s office has increased criminal charges and indictments while losing prosecutors during President Trump’s second term, ...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I went long on a new form of Trump DOJ turmoil: Top Las Vegas prosecutor Sigal Chattah repeatedly bypassed Main Justice recusal orders, pushed cases for ex-clients & friends, targeted political foe, & much more. "It's charitable to call it chaos." news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last wk.

Now official: DOJ files motion to dismiss indictment of alleged crypto fraudster. Associate DAG Aakash Singh tells judge DOJ “decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources” news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Asks Judge to Dismiss Alleged Crypto Ponzi Schemer’s Case

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have sought a judge’s approval to dismiss with prejudice longstanding charges against the alleged mastermind of a $722 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 4w ago

Scoop: Trump DOJ to drop charges for alleged $722M crypto Ponzi schemer, just before trial. BitClub mastermind said he'd built scam on backs of "idiots" & "sheep." He hired Trump-connected lawyers to lobby DOJ HQ for relief, overruling NJ prosecutors. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEWS: Trump DOJ is quietly recruiting prosecutors to join a public corruption initiative inside the new Fraud Division that'll target state officials like Tim Walz for failing to prevent schemes, ramping up probes of blue state leaders ahead of midterms news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump Targets State Officials Via New DOJ Public Corruption Team

The Justice Department is quietly recruiting prosecutors for a public corruption initiative within its White House-linked fraud division, potentially ramping up politically charged investigations of s...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEWS: Trump DOJ is quietly recruiting prosecutors to join a public corruption initiative inside the new Fraud Division that'll target state officials like Tim Walz for failing to prevent schemes, ramping up probes of blue state leaders ahead of midterms news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump Targets State Officials Via New DOJ Public Corruption Team

The Justice Department is quietly recruiting prosecutors for a public corruption initiative within its White House-linked fraud division, potentially ramping up politically charged investigations of s...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2w ago

JUST IN: Roger Rogoff, court-appointed US attorney in Seattle who Trump immediately fired, has sued to regain his post. The novel challenge takes aim at White House authority to bypass judiciary & Senate in choosing prosecutors news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Seattle’s Fired US Attorney Sues Trump and DOJ to Resume Post

Seattle’s judicially selected US attorney is alleging President Donald Trump illegally terminated him last week, filing a novel and high-stakes lawsuit taking aim at the administration’s constitutiona...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 3w ago

ICYMI - Trump admin. brings on a new top prosecutor in EDVA, Theo Stamos, who last fall was leading Va. state AG's effort to investigate a retired college professor for protesting outside Stephen and Katie Miller's home.

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 3w ago

News: DOJ installs new head of embattled Eastern Dist. of Va. US atty's office that charged Trump enemies under Halligan. Interesting pick - Theo Stamos was Dem elected as Arlington's top prosecutor. Since 2019, she appears to have veered toward MAGA: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 3w ago

News: DOJ installs new head of embattled Eastern Dist. of Va. US atty's office that charged Trump enemies under Halligan. Interesting pick - Theo Stamos was Dem elected as Arlington's top prosecutor. Since 2019, she appears to have veered toward MAGA: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Taps Veteran Prosecutor to Lead Embattled Virginia Office

The Justice Department has installed Theo Stamos, a longtime state and local prosecutor, to lead the Eastern Virginia US attorney’s office, which is at the center of controversy over Trump directives ...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 3w ago

UPDATE: Trump fires Seattle US Attorney under an hour after judges appointed him. Roger Rogoff tells me he's weighing legal options: “We have a situation that is untenable, not constitutional, and not legal.” news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and...

White House Rapidly Fires Seattle Judges’ US Attorney Pick (1)

The White House rapidly fired the new judicially appointed US attorney in Seattle, Roger Rogoff, setting up potentially the first legal battle over the executive branch’s termination authority for suc...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 3w ago

NEW: Seattle area Western District of Washington judges pick new US attorney, replacing Trump admin's term-expired leader. It's Roger Rogoff, twice appointed by state's former Dem Gov. Inslee. Todd Blanche is a little distracted on Hill today. news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and...

Seattle Judges Select a New US Attorney, Replacing Trump Pick

The Western District of Washington’s chief judge appointed Roger Rogoff, a veteran prosecutor and former Democrat-appointed state jurist, to serve as Seattle-area US attorney, replacing the Trump admi...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 3w ago

SCOOP: DOJ sets a case quota for all line prosecutors, requiring at least 25 open matters. Trump DOJ leaders are monitoring stats to find low performers. Spox says this'll push out unproductive AUSAs, with "patriotic AUSAs taking their place." news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Sets Case Quotas for Line Prosecutors in Push to Boost Stats

Justice Department leaders have started requiring all prosecutors to maintain at least 25 open cases, tightening the Trump administration’s grip on operational decisions previously left to US attorney...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 3w ago

SCOOP: DOJ sets a case quota for all line prosecutors, requiring at least 25 open matters. Trump DOJ leaders are monitoring stats to find low performers. Spox says this'll push out unproductive AUSAs, with "patriotic AUSAs taking their place." news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Sets Case Quotas for Line Prosecutors in Push to Boost Stats

Justice Department leaders have started requiring all prosecutors to maintain at least 25 open cases, tightening the Trump administration’s grip on operational decisions previously left to US attorney...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 4w ago

Scoop: Trump DOJ to drop charges for alleged $722M crypto Ponzi schemer, just before trial. BitClub mastermind said he'd built scam on backs of "idiots" & "sheep." He hired Trump-connected lawyers to lobby DOJ HQ for relief, overruling NJ prosecutors. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

US to Drop Charges for Alleged $722 Million Crypto Ponzi Schemer

Justice Department leaders plan to drop charges against the alleged mastermind of a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that prosecutors said defrauded investors of $722 million, reversing course on a 2019 in...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Jordan Fischer@jordanonrecord.bsky.social · 4w ago

President Trump has suggested he may ask the Supreme Court to rehear its just-decided birthright citizenship case. It's nothing short of a legal Hail Mary, one expert told me: "The longest of long shots." news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump Bid for Birthright Redo Would Be ‘Longest of Long Shots’

The US Supreme Court hasn’t agreed to rehear a case even on a partial basis in more than 60 years. President Donald Trump, looking to reverse a loss this term on one of his key policies, says he may a...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

News: Trump DOJ is declining to prosecute more corporate pharma and related consumer protection cases, fueled by DAG rejecting Criminal Div head's push to charge Abbott Labs & execs over contaminated baby formula linked to infant deaths. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Closing Abbott Labs Case Spurs Wider Corporate Crime Retreat

Justice Department leaders’ shutdown of a long-running criminal case against Abbott Laboratories over contaminated baby formula has fueled a broader pullback on corporate prosecutions protecting consu...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

News: Trump DOJ is declining to prosecute more corporate pharma and related consumer protection cases, fueled by DAG rejecting Criminal Div head's push to charge Abbott Labs & execs over contaminated baby formula linked to infant deaths. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Closing Abbott Labs Case Spurs Wider Corporate Crime Retreat

Justice Department leaders’ shutdown of a long-running criminal case against Abbott Laboratories over contaminated baby formula has fueled a broader pullback on corporate prosecutions protecting consu...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

Scoop with @ccastronuovo.bsky.social: Pete Hegseth has authorized forced deployments of reservists as DOJ immigration judges. Email to marine reserves seeks "volunteers for involuntary orders." news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Hegseth Moves to Order Military Lawyers to be Immigration Judges

The Defense Department is planning to begin involuntarily activating military lawyers to serve as immigration judges and to represent the government in cases involving detained migrant children, accor...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

ICYMI: A DOJ OIG that's been criticized for going silent on Trump era scandals is now going into overdrive on a matter that delights Trump admin and GOP: Transmitting all 170 of its Crossfire Hurricane interview transcripts en masse to Sens. Grassley & Johnson news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Watchdog’s Release of Russia Probe Transcripts Prompts Alarm

The Justice Department watchdog recently bypassed its own disclosure rules by providing Senate Republicans with highly-sensitive interview transcripts scrutinizing DOJ’s probe into Russian 2016 electi...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

News: Under mounting Trump admin. pressure, DOJ inspector general starts sending GOP senators troves of interview transcripts on Crossfire Hurricane probe -- a first-of-its-kind production widely expected to chill future cooperators and whistleblowers news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Watchdog’s Release of Russia Probe Transcripts Prompts Alarm

The Justice Department watchdog recently bypassed its own disclosure rules by providing Senate Republicans with highly-sensitive interview transcripts scrutinizing DOJ’s probe into Russian 2016 electi...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

News: Under mounting Trump admin. pressure, DOJ inspector general starts sending GOP senators troves of interview transcripts on Crossfire Hurricane probe -- a first-of-its-kind production widely expected to chill future cooperators and whistleblowers news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ Watchdog’s Release of Russia Probe Transcripts Prompts Alarm

The Justice Department watchdog recently bypassed its own disclosure rules by providing Senate Republicans with highly-sensitive interview transcripts scrutinizing DOJ’s probe into Russian 2016 electi...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

SCOOP: Stephen Miller was driving force behind DOJ memo eroding decades of disability rights protections. His push was rooted in view (not backed by evidence) that de-institutionalizing people w/ disabilities increases homelessness. w/ @ccastronuovo.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Stephen Miller Said to Drive DOJ Memo Eroding Disability Rights

White House adviser Stephen Miller was the driving force behind the Justice Department’s recent memo authorizing states to institutionalize people with disabilities rather than fund community-based ca...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · last mo.

SCOOP: Stephen Miller was driving force behind DOJ memo eroding decades of disability rights protections. His push was rooted in view (not backed by evidence) that de-institutionalizing people w/ disabilities increases homelessness. w/ @ccastronuovo.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Stephen Miller Said to Drive DOJ Memo Eroding Disability Rights

White House adviser Stephen Miller was the driving force behind the Justice Department’s recent memo authorizing states to institutionalize people with disabilities rather than fund community-based ca...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New: A trial was supposed to start today in Houston in Nvidia chip smuggling into China case Trump admin promoted as key to protecting US from adversaries. Turns out, Trump's dealmaking at Nvidia's behest to permit sales in China may derail prosecution. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump’s China-Nvidia Dealing Threatens DOJ Chip Smuggling Trial

President Donald Trump’s approval for Nvidia to sell chips to some customers in China has potentially derailed a major AI smuggling prosecution nearing trial after the judge ordered the Justice Depart...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is the article @whitehouse.senate.gov just had Grassley enter into record of Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to show the cost of illegal US attorney appointments ⬇️

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I went long on a new form of Trump DOJ turmoil: Top Las Vegas prosecutor Sigal Chattah repeatedly bypassed Main Justice recusal orders, pushed cases for ex-clients & friends, targeted political foe, & much more. "It's charitable to call it chaos." news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

111 ex-Chicago AUSAs have signed a statement - aboutblaw.com/blX0 - condemning leadership of US Attorney Andrew Boutros. I can't recall this level of concerted criticism from an office's named former prosecutors in this admin. Story by Megan Crepeau: news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/e...

Ex-Prosecutors Condemn ‘Failure of Leadership’ in Chicago Office

More than 100 former Northern District of Illinois prosecutors raised deep concerns about the direction of the US Attorney’s office in Chicago in a statement Monday describing an exodus of experienced...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Read full story for the Bondi drama that beset DOJ congressional affairs this past year. As Epstein scrutiny escalated, Bondi’s team rebuffed her Senate-confirmed Hill liaison’s request for more lawmaker outreach & took hearing advice from inner circle of zinger writers ⬇️

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

News: Ahead of Blanche confirmation battle, DOJ has tried repairing strained Hill relations, especially among Rs, after Bondi's team marginalized & distrusted head of leg affairs. That official, Patrick Davis, could be key in wooing Senate for Blanche. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Ben Penn@benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

News: Ahead of Blanche confirmation battle, DOJ has tried repairing strained Hill relations, especially among Rs, after Bondi's team marginalized & distrusted head of leg affairs. That official, Patrick Davis, could be key in wooing Senate for Blanche. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Blanche Confirmation Push Follows Strained DOJ-Hill Relations

Trump attorney general pick Todd Blanche heads into a Senate confirmation test facing an already-strained relationship between the Justice Department and Capitol Hill.

news.bloomberglaw.com