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Pam Bondi, US Attorney General gives a vigorous defense of the DJT administration and the president in hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She tells US senators it was Democrats who politicized the Justice Department first. And Bondi defended the hard work of the administration in fighting illegal immigration and violent crime. In 5 hours of exchanges she answered Senators on the other side- “Don’t you ever challenge my integrity.” “I have abided by every ethical standard. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial as attorney general.” She told Senator Durbin of Illinois when asked about the sending of the National Guard to Chicago- “I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump." Senator Graham of South Carolina, and Senator Grassley of Iowa who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, asked Bondi why the Jack Smith investigation into Trump under president Biden had looked at phone calls made by Senator Graham and by Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, both Republicans. Graham asked Bondi: “Can you tell me why my phone records were sought by the Jack Smith agents? Why did they ask to know who I called?” Grassley called this an "outrage" and an "unconstitutional breach." At the same time FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that he had fired "those who had acted unethically" in this situation. These exchanges show the mood of the Nation and the people as the National Guard heads to Chicago in September 2025 to reduce violent crime and tackle illegal immigration.     ...

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A Washington Post reporter tells why his reading list for 2018 has on it Winston Churchill's book "The Gathering Storm." A book suggested to him by Republican strategist Steve Schmidt. Authoritarian tendencies are evident in the interview with Schmidt of the NYT, including the idea expressed by president Trump that the Justice Department is something over which the president has "absolute rights." In a interview on CNN, Carl Bernstein, the reporter who covered the Watergate scandal of president Nixon, clarified that it was not just the break  into the Watergate apartments that led to impeachment of Nixon. Bernstein stated that it was the way in which Nixon used the powers of the presidency that led to the problems he faced.

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Google's share of the online ad market falls below 50% for the first time. Changes are made to management. The US federal government seeks a breakup of Google because of its business practices. Major law suits are pending for the US Justice Department investigating Google business practices.

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The U.S. Justice Department files suit to block the merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways, saying the deal would hurt competition.

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Failure of management at BNP Paribas to stop illicit transactions violating American laws leading to the $9 billion fine by the Justice Department.

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Robert Mueller, the special counsel, says the Mueller Report and his investigation into the 2016 presidential election does not exonerate president Trump. If we had exonerated the president we would have said so, said Mueller in a public statement. "If we had confidence the president did not commit a crime we would have said that," Mueller said. He said the constitution of the U.S. does not allow a sitting president to be charged by the special counsel. Because the special counsel office is under the Justice Department and the department policy set the manner of the report, charging the president was not an option he had. The Republican party controls the Senate and the Democrats control the House of Representatives. Any effort by Democrats in the House to impeach the president would fail in the Senate. Democrats and Speaker Pelosi are wary of impeachment proceedings. Mr. Mueller's statement suggests there is also growing discomfort in Congress about taking no action at all that would be construed as exonerating the president for what happened during the presidential election, because it might set improper precedent for the future. This increases the pressure for impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives from some Democrats for more information to let Congress decide. ...

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Federal prosecutors are working on a criminal investigation of China's Huawei Technologies Co. for allegedly stealing trade secrets from U.S. business partners. Huawei is the world's second largest maker of smartphones and the largest maker of telecom equipment in the world. One investigation looks at technology used by T-mobile to test smartphones. The Trump administration is aggressively following up on cases of technology transfer by Chinese companies and intellectual property theft.

Another investigation involves technology trade secrets of Micron Technology Inc. The U.S. Justice Department is taking up previous civil lawsuits related to technology theft and bringing up criminal cases.

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Former Special Counsel Mueller answers questions in the U.S. Congress related to his investigation of the president's election campaign and interference by Russia. Mueller continues to say nothing exonerates the president for his actions. And insists that he did not act on his investigation findings as a sitting president cannot be indicted according to Justice Department rules. Only Congress can do this and it was upto Congress to act. Mueller also replied in the affirmative that in this case the investigation could continue and action could be taken on findings after the president leaves office. The 74 year old lawyer calm demeanour appeared to be under strain as he handled question after question from Democratic Congressmen. The appearance of Mr. Mueller only brought the details about the flawed election process and poor judgement of officials at U.S. government agencies and of the candidates themselves, to a larger audience. It left the issue unresolved, with new questions, and no one looking good in the process. ...

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A states attorney generals lawsuit filed against Google states Google operates a monopoly that harms advertisers and publishers by lowering sales of publishers and charging inflated prices to ad buyers. Cases will go on trial in 2023. The Justice Department and 35 states attorney generals have a separate antitrust lawsuit against Google's search services. Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are pushing forward a bill that would treat Google search engine like a railroad operator making it illegal for it to give an unfair advantage to Google products and charge inflated prices by distorting the markets. This report in WSJ shows the way Google ran a series of programs named Project Bernanke, Reserve Price Optimization and Dynamic Revenue Share, to distort the normal operation of markets so that Google obtained an unfair price advantage. Bernanke program was operated between 2010 and 2019. In some cases the lawsuit says publisher revenue was reduced by 40%, according to internal company communications quoted in the complaint, as shown in this WSJ report. ...

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JP Morgan Chase Bank faces six separate investigations by the U.S. Justice Department in 2013. Cases from the housing crisis are still being worked out. The Justice Department has concluded that securities laws were broken in JP Morgan's selling of mortgage backed securities in 2005-2007. A new investigation is taking place into anti-bribery law violations in hiring of children of Chinese officials. The legal settlement losses could place JP Morgan Chase ahead of Bank of America in the extent of losses. One estimate is for $6.8 billion in losses above that set aside in reserves, an amount larger than that of any other U.S. bank, according to Barclays Research.

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The U.S. Justice Department indictment of 5 Chinese military officers for hacking into computers of U.S. companies to get trade secrets. The hacking involved Westinghouse, U.S. Steel, and other companies.

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Mr. Trump's conflict with the Justice Department in the last weeks of his presidency to appoint a new Attorney General with intent to contest the results of the presidential election of 2020, is shown in this report in NYT. This created risks for American democracy. The cracks in social cohesion following four decades of foreign wars 1980-2021, irresponsible behavior of financial institutions leading to financial crises and impoverishment of America, incompetent elites, neglect of rural America, ceding of technology and competitive position to China, failure to fund education, healthcare and infrastructure, under presidents Reagan, elder Bush, Clinton,  Bush, Obama, led to a situation of revolt against the status quo by a maverick politician using a new and proven dangerous form of communication social media. Ultimately this put democracy at risk. Lessons from this are only now being learned as people in the Biden administration and outside of it reflect on what happened. In this WSJ report Mr. Trump is seen pressuring officials of the Justice Department to agree to appointment of a new Attorney General shortly after the election. This was seen as an effort to question the results of the 2020 presidential election. A leading senator on the Judiciary Committee says this would lead to "shredding the US Constitution to stay in power." Of this and also of four decades of neglect in America Washington has this to say in his first Inaugural Address on April 30, 1789- "The blessed religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best institutions may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even in some instances be made subservient to the vilest of purposes. Should, hereafter, those entrusted with the management of this government, incited by the lust of power and prompted by the supineness or venality of their Constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution, and violate the inalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to shew, that no compact among men (however provident in its construction and sacred in its ratification) can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable- and if I may so express myself, that no wall of words, that no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the one side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other." ...

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This analysis by Gerald Seib in the WSJ shows the FBI chief Comey reopening the investigation into Clinton's email server just one week before election date November 8, as a move that does not enhance the democratic process because either way it will lead to questions why this was done at this late stage. The emails were found on a laptop used by Huma Abedin, an assistant to Hillary Clinton. Experts say the emails can be processed in a few days, and the FBI, the Justice Department are moving quickly to do this. 

Election experts say most of the decided voters for both parties will not be affected by this especially since most people will have made up their minds by now. Some voters who had questions about Trump might be moved to vote for him, and some undecided voters may be less enthused to come out to vote, though it is not clear at this stage. By mid week a clearer picture is likely to emerge. 

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NYT looks at the corruption in city government in Los Angeles. During the turn of the century Tammany Hall was a term used for the organization down to city wards that controlled city government and under city bosses led to much corruption. Rapid real estate development in the city of Los Angeles with Chinese developers investing in building high rise office and other buildings in the city led to corruption. A large concentration of power, the lack of news coverage from local sources as one of the effects of the internet, surges in real estate growth, have led to reduced attention to the effects of corruption in the city of Los Angeles and in the state of California. Jose Huizar on the City council and Raymond Chang deputy mayor are shown here in this NYT report to be convicted of racketeering charges.  Over a decade 576 public officials in California have been convicted on federal corruption charges, according to Justice Department reports, says the NYT. This is more than the number of cases in states better known for public corruption, including New York, New Jersey and Illinois. ...

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Abbott is placed on a five year probationary period by the U.S. Justice Department. This comes after the $1.6 billion legal settlement for aggressive marketing practices to sell the drug Depakote in nursing homes.

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JP Morgan Chase bank's tentative deal with the U.S. Justice Department includes agreement that the bank will not face penalties for the problems at Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns, financial companies acquired during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The failing firms were acquired at the urging of federal regulators and management at JP Morgan sees holding the bank responsible for the culture and behaviour of management at Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns as not a fair response of regulators. What the deal does do is include provisions for covering losses of investors. Of the $13 billion legal settlement JP Morgan will provide about $3 billion for institutional investor losses on mortgage bonds issued by JP Morgan, Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns. $4 billion goes to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for misleading the regulator about quality of mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Another $4 billion goes to homeowners for losses suffered. $2 billion relates to penalties for JP Morgan's own behaviour during the years leading to the financial crisis. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justie Department see the settlement with JP Morgan Chase as a template for action against other banks for behaviour leading to large investor and homeowner losses following the 2008 mortgage financial crisis....

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New developments in the lawsuits filed in Washington DC by 38 states attorney generals related to legal theory. A separate lawsuit was filed by the Justice Department in Virginia against Google. With 90% of the advertising search queries worldwide and $160 billion-in-sales advertising business Google is in a position that is not supported by the idea of competition that is inherent to the American system of business and the economy that holds that no one competitor should dominate the market. This happened during the early twentieth century under Rockefeller's Standard Oil and is happening once again with Google and other tech companies that monopolize space that is vital to maintaining an economy based on fairness and competition. Current legal theory practice fails in this respect as it does not clearly recognize that the principle is at stake that no one company should be allowed to control vital public space or resource such as in this case internet or in the case of Rockefeller energy. Monopolies seen in this way fail the people because they make it impossible to exercize the inalienable rights of man and limit his possibilities by excluding alternatives and alternative expressions. ...

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The choice of new Federal Trade commission chairperson shows that president Biden is making a complete break from the Obama era White House and the favor Tech in Silicon Valley had under Obama, says this report in the WSJ. Antitrust probes by Justice Department and FTC are expected to limit power of tech companies. Ms. Lina Khan is new head of the FTC. Biden says "its just wrong" that Amazon pays little in federal taxes. This report says Mr. Obama feted Silicon Valley at a White House festival called "South by South Lawn."  And that 80% of the 334 people registered to lobby for Apple, Amazon, Google last year previously worked on Capitol Hill or the White House. 

Mr. Biden's Families plan and Jill Biden's commitment to education are more in line with the heritage of FDR and Harry Truman, even Eisenhower, presidents who fought on behalf of the working men and women of America.

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Did a major U.S. chip maker Advance Micro Devices give away advanced computer chip technology in deals that saved the company as it faced a downturn in business. In Jun 2019 the U.S. Commerce Department issued an order that bars several Chinese companies from getting American technology. In the meantime Chinese versions of AMD chips are rolling off production lines in China, according to this report in the WSJ. It shows that AMD's partner in China, a military contractor, already used those chips to build what could be the world's fastest supercomputer. The AMD deals gave China access to state  of the art x86 chips made only by AMD and Intel Corp. Here the WSJ says AMD's CEO in October 2014 Lis Su, faced AMD's financial difficulties when she joined, with lack of cash, large debt, and declining revenues. Some analysts predicting bankruptcy protection. The deal for China's company Sugon to manufacture the x86 chips included $293 million in licensing fees, and $371 million for selling an 85% stake in its two factories in China and Malaysia to China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co, a state backed financier. The U.S defense Department tried but failed to get AMD to submit the deals to Cfius, the committee on foreign investment in the U.S. that has people from Treasury, Defense, Commerce, Justice and Energy. The Treasury Department ruled in AMD's favor in the closing months of the Obama administration. Defense Department officials say the deals were structured to sidestep U.S. regulations through two interlinked joint ventures. The first venture focusses on R&D and production controlled by AMD, the second on design and sale controlled by AMD's Chinese partner. The second company venture enables China to show that the resulting product was developed locally in China. In another development Sugon publicly announced that it was using the AMD x86 chip to advance China's chip technology advancement just as it had done for high speed trains. Making indigenous an imported technology, designing it at home, absorbing it, and then innovating to make China a leader. By mid 2017 this information reached General Spalding at the Trump White House. Lawmakers wanted to give Cfius committee new powers. By August 2018 Defense department submitted the Sugon deal for review a second time. After the Defense Department's deputy undersecretary for Research and Engineering criticized the whole deal publicly in front of industry executives, Commerce Department stepped in and on June 21 it asked for the unwinding of the deal with Sugon,  imposing new export restrictions to limit access to U.S. technologies. For AMD the cash infusion from China enabled it to get back from near bankruptcy. China gained x86 technology in its bid to make the fastest supercomputer, the U.S. faced with another loss in technological edge, and AMD shares jumped 80% to $30 per share recently. Brian Spegele, Kate O'Keefe, and Yang Jie in Beijing, covered this story for the Wall Street Journal. ...

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Barclays agrees to pay $450 million to settle claims that it manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). THE U.S. CFTC set a penalty of $200 million. The Financial Services Authority set a penalty of $92.8 million and the Justice Department in the U.S. imposed a $160 million penalty.

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The investigation into behaviour of the head of the Brexit department, and Justice Secretary, British deputy prime minister under Sunak, shows the tense relationship between the British Civil Service and the government. The official investigation by Adam Tolley KC found that Raab branded civil servant's work "utterly useless" and "woeful," says this report in The Guardian. Tolley rejected claims by Conservative MP's that civil servants were "snowflakes" and stressed that he did not find "any lack of resilience" among civil servants who "had many years of experience" working with ministers. What the report shows is that the entire Brexit process, the brusque nature with which one of the finest civil services in the world was handled by Conservatives pushing for Brexit and for other policies of the Conservatives, has led to a crisis in its operations. Much needs to be done to restore a level of confidence that civil servants deserve as part of the long tradition in which the British Civil Service has done much of the ablest work of the government of the British Isles over decades going back to the nineteenth century. ...

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NYT's Landon Thomas gives this exceptional report on how Deutsche Bank changed from a lender to the German auto industry and safe banking practices to enter the derivatives business and other opaque financial products that led to taking on huge risks. Deutsche Bank has agreed on Dec. 22, 2016 to settle with the U.S. Justice Department paying a fine of $7.2 billion for practices relating to faulty mortgage securities. This report says the problems started in 1995 with Deutsche Bank's leadership hiring Edson Mitchell of Merrill Lynch to promote the investment banking business at Deutsche Bank. Mitchell hired two derivatives traders Broeksmit and Anshu Jain. Mr. Mitchell died in plane crash in 2000 when he was 47 years age, Mr. Broeksmit committed suicide in 2014, 58 years in age, Mr. Anshu Jain, 53 years old, is the only surviving person of the three. Under Mr. Jain Deutsche Bank assumed more and more risk, and was involved in complex and opaque financial products leading to the toxic mortgage crisis, and manipulation of the lending rate for London banks.  It also lent $300 million to Donald Trump's businesses. Most of the profits generated from this venture have evaporated, with analysts estimating $15 billion in fines and penalties owed of the $20 billion that these ventures generated. Not counting the serious damage to the bank's reputation in Germany and the U.S. This report points out the role played by the CEO from 2002 to 2012 of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann, in encouraging these ventures converting the bank from its original loan as a contintental lender to business to a bank selling opaque financial products for most of its profits. Landon Thomas also describes the events and days leading up to the suicide by Broeksmit, including a visit to a psychiatrist and Broeksmit's facing enormous stress about the investigations underway in Germany and the U.S. looking into the opaque financial products and practices of Deutsche Bank. This is also a cautionary tale about what happened in banking from the late 1990's leading to the collapse in 2008, leading to the problems of today- the need to rescue the economy in 2008-2009 and the low rate world that ensued damaging the savings of ordinary people, the infrastructure that was never built, the parallel crisis of the hollowing out in manufacturing as a false prosperity boomed in banking and finance. In a sense it is also a story of everyday lives that were damaged in the high flying boardrooms of finance in New York, London and Frankfurt. The revolving door between regulators and the banks made it harder to monitor and control banking risk letting this story unfold over decades, damaging the credibility of governments and the established political parties without clear alternatives from outside; as the dominance of Wall Street executives in the new outsider Trump administration shows.  ...

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Prof. Brandon Garrett of the University of Virginia, School of Law, says the $2.6 billion settlement of Credit Suisse with the U.S. Justice Department does not provide accountability for the financial crisis. The settlement comes with an agreement to protect Credit Suisse from U.S. regulatory agencies such as the S.E.C. The Swiss bank will be allowed to conduct business as investment advisor, something not allowed if it is indicted for a criminal offense. And the focus of the investigation on secret Swiss bank accounts is unresolved, as the names of these account holders will continue to remain a secret for Swiss banks. Protess and Greenberg say if this was intended to burnish the image of the Justice Department and Attorney General Holder, after its lack of prosecution to hold individuals accountable following the 2008 financial crisis, it is not clear how long this will happen. A separate editorial by the WSJ raises the same questions.

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Attorney General Sessions says the driver of the car who drove into protesters could be prosecuted in a number of ways including for a hate crime. The protest was against a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. A car driven by 20 year old James Alex Fields drove into protesters injuring 19 and killing one woman. The local charges being made are for hit and run, malicious wounding, and the Justice Department is conducting its own probe. The comments by Sessions contrasted with the statement blaming both sides by president Trump, which led to strong criticism in the media and by the business community.

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Swiss Bank UBS's $1 billion legal settlement with the Justice Department criminal division, U.S. CFTC, UK Financial Services Authority, and Swiss regulators over manipulation of the London interbank offered rate and the euro interbank offered rate is the largest settlement for LIBOR manipulation. This exceeds the $450 million legal settlement by Barclays bank for LIBOR manipulation.