Trump Nominates Conservative Kash Patel
As FBI Director to Revamp the Agency
Skepticism continued this week among lawmakers about whether President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI is qualified for the job.
Even some Republicans are calling Kash Patel a Trump loyalist who would carry out the president’s bidding but do little to improve the FBI.
Patel has said that he would “come after” Trump critics in the government and media if he is appointed as FBI director. He also said he would close the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the FBI and turn it into a museum of the “deep state” conspiracy against Trump.
His appointment requires Senate confirmation.
“We will go out and find the conspirators, not only in the government but also in the media,” Patel said in a media interview last December.
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D.C. Council Asks Senate Leaders
To Quickly Confirm New Judges
The District of Columbia Council is urging the Senate to quickly confirm new judges to D.C. Superior Court as the backlog of cases grows.
The Council wrote a letter recently to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asking for action before the New Year.
The D.C. Home Rule Act requires the district's Judicial Nomination Commission to recommend new judges, the president to nominate them and the Senate to confirm them.
There are nine open seats on the D.C. Superior Court bench with eight nominees. Two seats remain unfilled on the D.C. Court of Appeals with two nominees.
"These vacancies have a meaningful impact on our public safety goals, our criminal and civil dockets, and the sustainable case load for our existing judges," the council’s letter to the Senate leaders said.
"Should the currently pending judicial nominees fail to be confirmed by the end of year, the nomination process would have to start anew next year, wasting significant time and resources for the White House, the Senate and the District of Columbia courts," the letter said. "Some of these nominees have been waiting for more than four years for confirmation."
The council members said violent crime is down this year by 35 percent as a result of legislation they approved but tie-ups with court dockets are endangering the progress.
"But at the Superior Court, judges are handling a growing number of new cases and have struggled to meet required deadlines in criminal cases," their letter said. "At the Court of Appeals, case dispositions are down by nearly half compared to 2013, the last year the court had a full bench."
Tobacco Companies Lose Appeal
To Block Graphic Health Warnings
The U.S. Supreme Court last week rejected an appeal from tobacco companies, thereby meaning they will need to put graphic health warnings about the risks of smoking on cigarette packs and ads.
The tobacco companies argued the warnings required by the Food and Drug Administration violate their First Amendment rights to free speech.
The warnings include images of smoke-damaged lungs, feet blackened by reduced blood flow and a woman with a large cancerous tumor protruding from her neck. The caption says, “WARNING: Smoking causes head and neck cancer.”
The FDA decided to require the images after saying text warnings alone are not enough to prevent young people from smoking.
Tobacco companies R.J. Reynolds, ITG Brands LLC and Liggett Group LLC said in their court appeal that the images are misleading. The woman pictured with the large tumor would have sought medical assistance before it reached that size, the company said.
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Venezuelan Gang’s Presence in D.C.
Prompts Homeland Security Warning
A Venezuelan prison gang has spread its influence to 16 states and the District of Columbia, a Nov. 14 Homeland Security Department memo says.
The memo was intended to warn police in Virginia that some of their officers could be targeted for violent attacks.
The gang called Tren de Aragua also is known for sex trafficking and financial scams, according to police reports. They are suspected of planning to expand their operations to illegal drug trafficking.
One of the suspected gang members was convicted last week of murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
The warning for the Washington area follows the arrest in Fairfax County of three men accused of grand larceny. Police said they caught them with more than $9,000 worth of stolen merchandise in their car.
All three of the men bore tattoos associated with Tren de Aragua. After posting bond to be released from jail, they missed their court dates.
The Homeland Security Department memo said several members of the gang live in Washington, D.C. It also says the gang is increasing in its "violent tendencies."
Reports of crime associated with Venezuelans has been rising as harsh economic and political problems under the regime of socialist President Nicolas Maduro force more of his countrymen to flee to the United States.
In some cases, the thieves commit lower level thefts or fraud to get money they then send back to Venezuela, the Homeland Security Department memo says.
For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: tramstack@gmail.com or phone: 202-479-7240.
Christmas Shopping Season Starts
With Warnings About Online Fraud
Government agencies are warning that fraudsters will be seeking victims during this year’s Christmas shopping season from among online shoppers looking for good deals.
Part of the problem this year is that innovations in artificial intelligence are helping criminals design sophisticated scams customized to appeal to each shopper.
Emails that claim to offer sales from well-known retailers like Amazon and Costco are some of the most common methods of stealing money, according to the banking company Barclays.
The number and dollar value of purchase scams have been increasing steadily since 2021, particularly around the time of Black Friday, Barclays reported recently.
The increasing sophistication of the scams means even well-informed consumers are susceptible, Barclays said based on its recent survey of shoppers.