Attorney General Merrick Garland issues new guidelines on White House communications with Justice Department
CBSN
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday issued a set of new policies to emphasize that the Justice Department operates independently from the White House, creating stricter guidelines to keep the White House from being apprised of the DOJ's criminal investigations or civil legal actions, with only a few exceptions.
According to a memo released by the Justice Department, it will not advise the White House of such developments, "unless doing so is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective." DOJ activities involving national security and foreign relations issues were cited as the kind of exceptions that would be made. The guidelines cover any communication between the White House and Justice Department, outlining which officials in the White House are to communicate with each other for instances including requests for formal legal opinions, Supreme Court appeals, legislation, budgets, political appointments and pardons.Rodeo star Spencer Wright and his wife are making end-of-life preparations for their 3-year-old son after he was found unconscious in a creek, a close family friend said in updates posted on social media and confirmed to CBS affiliate KUTV. The boy had been playing on his tractor before he ended up in the water and a mile downstream.
The launch of Boeing's star-crossed Starliner spacecraft on its first piloted test flight is slipping to at least June 1 to give engineers more time to assess a small-but-persistent helium leak in the capsule's propulsion system, and its potential impact across all phases of flight, NASA announced Wednesday.
Washington — As former President Donald Trump's "hush money" criminal trial in New York proceeds to closing arguments next week, the legal focus is moving south. His attorneys and longtime aide Walt Nauta appeared before Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon, where they sparred with prosecutors during two contentious, day-long hearings on Wednesday.