Inside the Justice Dept. "rubber room," where veteran lawyers do jigsaw puzzles and stream shows to pass time
CBSN
When the Trump administration swept into the Department of Justice on Jan. 20, it moved swiftly to purge, demote, transfer and otherwise sideline career lawyers not perceived to be team players or sufficiently committed to the MAGA legal agenda.
Amid the upheaval and exodus of longtime federal prosecutors, one quiet 10th floor office in a remote outpost of the Justice Department has come to symbolize the withering impact of changes at the agency. Those who work there call it "the rubber room."
Inside, over a dozen of the government's most seasoned civil rights, environmental and national security lawyers have been reconstituted as members of a newly created group called the Sanctuary Cities task force.
Airport delays continue to worsen as a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to advance in the Senate Friday. In:
Five people who were charged in connection to the Feeding Our Future scheme pleaded guilty to wire fraud this week. In:
Actor Nicholas Brendon, best known for his role as Xander Harris in the popular television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," has died, according to his family. He was 54. In:
Washington — The Trump administration has been strategizing methods and options to secure or extract Iran's nuclear materials, according to multiple people briefed on the discussions, as a U.S.-Israel-led military campaign against Tehran enters a more uncertain phase. In:
Colombian President Gustavo Petro is the subject of several ongoing narcotics trafficking investigations being overseen by federal prosecutors in New York, sources told CBS News on Friday. Lilia Luciano, Joe Walsh and Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
The U.S. Treasury has authorized the purchase of Iranian oil that's already at sea, exempting buyers from the tight sanctions that have restricted the country's oil industry for years — a move aimed at stemming soaring prices amid the U.S.'s war with Iran. In:
A federal judge has struck down some of the Defense Department's strict controls on how journalists with access to the Pentagon are allowed to report — ending a policy that caused many news outlets to leave the Pentagon. In:
A jury has found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors by deliberately driving down Twitter's stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion. But it absolved him of some fraud allegations, finding that he did not "scheme" to mislead investors. In:
Washington — The Senate on Friday again failed to move forward with legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, extending the shutdown that has snarled air travel around the country. Alan He and Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report.
Muddy floodwaters from severe rains inundated streets, swallowed vehicles and prompted evacuation orders for thousands of residents in towns north of Honolulu on Friday as officials warned of the possible failure of a 120-year-old dam. In:
The Justice Department on Friday moved to dismiss its criminal case against two former Louisville police officers who were facing civil rights charges in connection with the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.
Although the Trump administration is pulling multiple levers to tame energy costs amid the widening Iran war, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. on Friday neared $4 a gallon, raising questions about whether those efforts are working. Edited by Alain Sherter In:
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