News and reports from the Department of Justice.

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Protection hearing titled, “Examining the Competitive Impact of the Proposed Kroger-Albertsons Transaction.

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nominations of Jonathan James Canada Grey, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan; Julia E. Kobick, to be United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts; Rita F. Lin, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California; Ramon Ernesto Reyes, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York; James Edward Simmons, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of California; and Amy Lefkowitz Solomon, to be an Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs.

The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations of Anthony Devos Johnstone, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit; Maria Araújo Kahn, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit; and Julie Rikelman, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit.

U.S. Rep Jim Jordan of Champaign County is targeting newly-confirmed U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Steve Dettelbach over new gun rules that Jordan calls “a deliberate attempt to usurp the authority of Congress and infringe on American citizens’ fundamental Second Amendment rights.”

The FBI has received a series of written questions from a top Republican over the bureau’s handling of “secret informants” on the heels of “bogus information” being obtained from sources and in the wake of a bombshell report on the program’s underlying problems, the Washington Examiner has learned

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is sending a renewed set of requests to four current and former government officials on Thursday, providing a window into how the highest-ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is zeroing in on his first top targets ahead of the next Congress when he obtains subpoena power.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today issued the following statement after the Senate passed his Respect for Marriage Act (HR 8404):

An Illinois ambulance company settled allegations of billing Medicare for unnecessary, non-emergency ambulance transportation by agreeing to pay $302,124.37.

News Release: PENSACOLA, FLORIDA - Charles E. Posey, Jr., 33, of Pensacola, Florida, was sentenced to 26.5 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal drug trafficking and firearms offenses. The sentence was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

News Release: COEUR D'ALENE - Qaya Mikel Gordon, 20, of Lapwai, Idaho was sentenced to six years in federal prison for assault with a dangerous weapon, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today.

News Release: SPRINGFIELD, Vt. - The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced today that Jonathan Castro, a.k.a. “Jose," 33, of Springfield, Vermont and Springfield, Massachusetts; Anibal Castro, Sr., a.k.a. “Papi," 54, of Springfield, Vermont; and Derek Arie, 34, of Springfield, ...

News Release: CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - Thomas Reed Ratliff, of Glenville, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 66 months of incarceration for a child pornography charge, First Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced.

News Release: The Justice Department announced that a Mississippi man pleaded guilty in federal court to a hate crime for burning a cross in his front yard with the intent to intimidate a Black family.

News Release: LAS VEGAS - A Las Vegas man was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon to 10 years in prison for distributing counterfeit pills that contained fentanyl - a powerful synthetic opioid - that resulted in the overdose death of another person.

News Release: The former Director of Operations of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) Office in Busan, South Korea, was sentenced today to five years in prison for his role in a bribery conspiracy and lying to federal investigators.