Recently, the US Department of Justice and Secretary of State William Barr have been in constant trouble, with allegations of abuse of power by American media, high-ranking officials resigning one after another, and over a thousand former employees demanding an investigation into the Secretary of State.
The departure of high-ranking officials
The Ministry of Justice is facing escalating questioning, and another senior official will resign
Reuters and other media outlets on Thursday quoted informed sources as saying that Noel Francisco, the chief defense lawyer for the Trump administration in the Supreme Court, will resign.
This marks the second senior official from the Ministry of Justice to resign within two days. On Wednesday, it was reported that the highest prosecutor responsible for overseeing the criminal department of the Ministry of Justice, Brian Benzkovsky, will resign early next month.
Noel Francisco
Francisco has been leading the Attorney General's Office since 2017, a department under the Department of Justice responsible for defending federal government policies facing legal challenges. Insiders say that, like Benzkovsky, Francisco has long planned to resign this summer.
The insider also stated that it is expected that Francisco's chief deputy, Jeff Wall, will serve as the acting attorney general, pending the White House's search for a replacement.
Francisco's resignation coincided with the expiration of the Supreme Court's term starting in October last year. Francisco achieved a significant victory in defending Trump's travel ban in major Muslim countries. The Supreme Court upheld the government's injunction in a 5-4 ruling in 2018.
It is reported that Francisco has long served as a lawyer in Washington and has a strong conservative stance. At the age of 50, he is Filipino American and the first Asian American to serve as a lawyer.
At present, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice refused to comment.
Abuse of power
US media reports: US Department of Justice authorizes surveillance and investigation of protesters
Recently, according to the US news website BuzzFeed, a memo they received shows that the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has received a new authorization to monitor and collect information on those involved in the protest.The website released a photo of this document on June 2nd local time. According to the photo, this document is from the United States Department of Justice, and the content is that the acting director of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Timothy Shea, applied for relevant authority from the US Department of Justice, and the document was ultimately approved.
Xie Yi listed four main actions that the Anti Drug Administration will carry out after obtaining authorization: conducting secret surveillance to remove threats and ensure public safety; Share intelligence with relevant departments at all levels; If necessary, intervene in protests as law enforcement officers to protect participants and passersby; Search, arrest, or interview violators of the law when necessary.
At the end of the document, it is shown that Deputy Minister of Justice Bradley Weinsheimer signed the document on May 31st.
US Attorney General Barr had previously stated in a statement that law enforcement agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Tobacco, Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives Administration (ATF) would "support local law enforcement," but he did not mention specific actions to be taken.
