Department of Justice

Texas senator John Cornyn is targeting classified leaks being released by the Obama administration. "The leaks appear to have formed the basis of two New York Times reports about the White House’s role in classified national security efforts, one detailing the use of cyber warfare against Iran, and the other the use of drones to hunt and kill suspected terrorists," Cornyn's office says.

Before 1987, Supreme Court nominations were relatively peaceful affairs. Yes, there occasionally were bursts of controversy—the appointment of progressive activist Louis Brandeis in 1916, the promotion of conservative Justice William Rehnquist in 1986—but controversy was the exception, not the rule. Justice Antonin Scalia, a known conservative commodity, was confirmed in 1986 by a vote of 98 to 0. ("The two missing were Barry Goldwater and Jake Garnes," Scalia later reflected, "so make it 100.")

Over at Forbes, Frank Miniter argues that "'Fast And Furious' Just Might Be President Obama's Watergate":

Why a gunrunning scandal codenamed “Fast and Furious,” a program run secretly by the U.S. government that sent thousands of firearms over an international border and directly into the hands of criminals, hasn’t been pursued by an army of reporters all trying to be the next Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein is a story in itself.

Hot Air: "Report: At least 200 murders in Mexico now linked to Fast & Furious weapons"

Byron York: "Perry locked, loaded for Thursday's debate"

The acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is stepping down from his role, according to a story at Politico. The ATF and the Justice Department have been plagued by a recent scandal surrounding the controversial "Fast and Furious" operation, which involved feds providing guns to Mexican criminals for the purpose of tracking smugglers (a practice known as "gunwalking"). ATF's interim director, Kenneth Melson, was the focus of recent congressional hearings for his role in the operation. 

When the White House announced last week that it would not comply with the requirements of the War Powers Resolution because the Libya operation does not involve "hostilities," eyebrows arched in curiosity. Many observers questioned the administration's conclusion that America's involvement in the Libya operation no longer fit within the statute's term "hostilities."

How our Marines are "destroying the Taliban"

“While Kennedy was in Santiago he made arrangements to ‘rent’ a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night’s activities.”

President Obama has now decided that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional. Thus, the Obama administration says that it will no longer defend that federal law in court. On the campaign trail, President Obama repeatedly asserted that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Now, the president has apparently decided that his own view, at least when codified as federal law, is unconstitutional.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the president "will nominate White House lawyer Donald Verrilli as solicitor general, filling a vacancy left by Elena Kagan when she became a Supreme Court justice last year, the White House said Monday." By picking Verrilli, the White House is passing over Neal Katyal, who has temporarily held the position since Kagan left for the Supreme Court.

The Obama administration fancies itself as the ‘most transparent’ presidential administration ever. Yet, when it comes to Guantanamo Bay detainees, the White House has consistently been less than forthcoming. Today, Eli Lake picks up a letter that Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee sent the Department of Justice, asking the administration to “outline procedures used in releasing terrorism-suspect detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.”

James Cole, recess appointed this week by President Obama to serve as deputy attorney general, famously wrote an op-ed on September 9, 2002, criticizing then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. Cole argued:

From a Washington Times editorial: 

When George W. Bush appointees at the Justice Department used political considerations in hiring career employees, official Washington exploded in outrage. Yet we hear barely a peep of protest now as the Obama Justice Department does the same thing for liberal ends.