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A defendant in the Western District of Virginia on Thursday moved to dismiss his indictment and disqualify First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci, who acts as the de facto U.S. attorney for the district, on the ground that Tracci’s appointment is inconsistent with the Appointments Clause and Federal Vacancies Reform Act. (Motion to Dismiss.) (Bloomberg Law.)
The watchdog group American Oversight sued the Social Security Administration (SSA) on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to compel SSA to produce records responsive to three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests concerning the Department of Government Efficiency’s alleged mishandling of sensitive SSA data. (Complaint.)
American Oversight also sued the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to compel the agencies to produce documents under FOIA related to USCIS’s “Unlawful Voter Initiative.” (Complaint.)
Attorney General Todd Blanche stated on Thursday that there are “no ongoing investigations, criminal investigations into words that incoming senators or congressmen have said” about their plans to investigate the executive branch and Trump administration allies when Democrats retake control of Congress. (Politico.)
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Robert Garcia on Wednesday sent a letter to Meredith O’Rourke, a top fundraiser for the president, requesting “information concerning your role in soliciting and coordinating over $800 million in large corporate contributions to President Trump’s White House Golden Ballroom project, presidential library, Freedom 250 celebrations, Garden of Heroes, MAGA Super PAC, and other vanity projects.” (Letter.) (WSJ.)
Bruce Rivers, the lawyer for a man who briefly served on a security detail for Rep. Ilhan Omar, alleged that federal prosecutors charged his client in April with one count of making a false statement to a government official under oath in an effort to secure incriminating information on Omar. The day after Rivers’s client testified before a grand jury reviewing evidence in the federal investigation of Omar, prosecutors moved to dismiss his client’s indictment. (NYT.)
Noah Bookbinder and Justin Florence argued that “given the difficulties” of criminally prosecuting high-level government officials for corruption, “a lesser-known alternative — clawing back corruptly obtained money — may be the most viable approach for effective accountability.” (Just Security.)
Rachel Moran argues in a forthcoming article that “states retain authority to investigate crimes by federal officers” and that although “federal regulations may establish procedures for responding to state requests, they cannot create a substantive privilege to withhold evidence.” The article concludes by proposing “a five-step framework for resolving federal-state disputes over investigative evidence.” (SSRN.)