Latest News
House Panel Investigates Nonprofits for Alleged Efforts to Influence D.C. Jurors
A congressional committee is investigating two Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organizations over allegations they are training prospective jurors to conceal their political views during jury selection and to acquit criminal defendants for ideological reasons.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote in a recent letter to Free DC and Harriet’s Wildest Dreams that they are suspected of encouraging local residents to vote for acquittal when they are on juries even when the evidence supports conviction.
He is seeking documents, communications and information about funding and outside partners involved in the groups’ jury education sessions.
In letters to the organizations, Comer alleged that their joint training initiative encouraged prospective jurors to subvert legal proceedings in the District of Columbia.
“Jury nullification training courses undermine the rule of law, the safety of D.C.’s residents, and erode public trust in the justice system,” Comer wrote in letters to the organizations.
Trump Announces $25 Million Whistleblower Program Against Government Fraud
President Donald Trump last week announced a $25 million federal program offering whistleblowers financial rewards for reporting suspected fraud in government programs.
The Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, known as WHIP, expands the Trump administration’s ongoing anti-fraud campaign led by Vice President JD Vance.
Under the program, people who submit tips through the Justice Department’s fraud reporting website that lead to fraud convictions or federal enforcement actions could qualify for rewards.
Trump said during an Oval Office announcement that investigators have found “tremendous amounts of fraud in various states and it's nothing by comparison to what they're looking at.”
His announcement created confusion about the amount of money whistleblowers could earn.
FBI Investigates Suspicious Powder in Mailings to Congress and State Election Offices
Federal law enforcement agencies are investigating a series of suspicious letters and packages sent to congressional offices and state election officials across the country.
Some of them contain white powder and notes with threatening language, prompting heightened security measures less than three weeks before the November midterm elections.
At least one of the notes warned of “civil war” after November’s midterm elections.
The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the mailings. They reported that at least 22 congressional offices and 26 state election officials had received the letters.
Laboratory testing has found no hazardous material in the packages. Investigators have not yet publicly identified the substances.
Legal Briefs
Gun Rights Debate Inflamed by Arrests for Illegal Trafficking
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced last week that federal authorities charged five people in an alleged firearms trafficking operation that moved guns from North Carolina to the District of Columbia in the latest incident to incite arguments over gun rights.
She made the announcement while some members of Congress are calling for tougher gun control laws after a deadly elementary school shooting this month in Oregon.
The 13-count indictment alleges the defendants trafficked approximately 40 firearms to customers in Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Washington and Grenada.
“A conveyor belt of weapons feeding violence up the East Coast, putting illegal guns onto our streets. Today that conveyor belt has stopped,” Pirro said.
Two of the defendants mentioned by Pirro hold special police officer licenses in Washington. The licenses allow them to legally carry guns.
The Justice Department is following a strategy of tougher gun law enforcement to resolve any greater risks of illegal gun possession.
“Gun-running networks do not respect state lines, and neither does our determination to stop them,” Pirro said.
The Justice Department’s pledge of tough gun enforcement is not stopping some public outcries about easy access to firearms by violent persons.
The most recent incident to inflame the rhetoric occurred this month at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. Three students and a teacher were killed before an armed bystander fatally shot the teenage gunman, who was a former student at the school.
D.C. in Brief
D.C. Appeals Court Rejects Proposal to Expand Nonlawyer Ownership of Law Firms
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals this month rejected proposed changes to professional conduct rules that would have expanded rights of nonlawyers to hold financial interests in law firms.
The ruling preserves existing restrictions on law firm ownership and the sharing of legal fees.
The court’s order said it was “not persuaded that a strong case has been made for the need for the proposed changes.”
The ruling reiterated the belief that business profits should never be a first priority in representing clients.
The proposed amendments to Rules 5.3, 5.4 and 5.7 were submitted by the D.C. Bar, which argued that changes were needed to help traditional law firms compete with businesses offering integrated legal and related professional services.
The court’s order said the proposal would have permitted lawyers to “cooperate and share fees with nonlawyers in a firm where its ‘principal’ rather than ‘sole’ purpose is the provision of legal services to clients.”
The existing rules already allow a limited form of nonlawyer participation in D.C. law firms for routine services that do not require court appearances.
The Bar argued that maintaining the existing rules could put its members at a disadvantage in a changing legal services market that allows nonlawyers to perform some high demand legal services.
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