Department of Justice

The provision would require that U.S. senators be notified if the U.S. Department of Justice requests their information, including via subpoenas of phone records.

In the United States, immigration courts are administered by the Department of Justice and immigration judges do not have lifetime tenure like Article III federal judges; the attorney general can remove immigration judges with fewer legal restraints.

Legislation can authorize the Department of Justice to withhold or redact records that would jeopardize an active federal investigation or prosecution or that implicate national security.

Legal exemptions for withholding records are typically required to be narrowly tailored and temporary, which allows withheld files to be released later once the justification for withholding no longer applies.

The term "Epstein files" refers to a collection of documents, images, and information related to the Department of Justice's criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

The U.S. president has authority over the Department of Justice as part of the executive branch and can influence DOJ actions, including the release of certain DOJ-held documents, without needing congressional approval for those internal executive decisions.

A proposed U.S. House bill would require the Attorney General to publicly release all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and U.S. attorneys' offices related to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates within 30 days of the bill becoming law, and would explicitly include investigative and prosecutorial materials, flight logs, travel records, materials about detention and death, names of individuals and entities referenced, internal Justice Department communications, and records concerning destruction, deletion, alteration, misplacement, or concealment of documents or electronic data.

Legislation can include provisions to protect the identities of victims and whistleblowers by redacting names from released criminal or investigative files.

Proposed legislative changes can expand the U.S. Department of Justice's enforcement authority to pursue unregistered foreign influence and lobbying campaigns.

A 2025 Department of Justice document listing 614 immigrants arrested in Chicago showed 598 (97.4%) had no criminal records at the time of their arrest and 16 (2.6%) had criminal records.

None of the 614 people listed in a 2025 Department of Justice document of immigrants arrested in Chicago were recorded as convicted of or arrested for murder or rape.

There is legal uncertainty and debate about whether a presidential pardon for specific offenses can extend to separate offenses that are discovered in the course of investigations related to those pardoned offenses.

Federal prosecutors can open corruption investigations that examine potential violations of bribery laws and campaign finance laws.

U.S. courts have authority to compel the production of government documents and internal communications, including from the Department of Justice, in connection with discovery and evidentiary hearings.

Under those local rules, government employees, including Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security personnel, who make statements that have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a criminal prosecution may be subject to sanctions.

Interim appointments to the office of United States Attorney are generally subject to a 120-day time limit on the interim appointment.

Federal court rules and Department of Justice policies bar disclosure of grand jury information and place limits on prosecutors' out-of-court public statements.

Congressional oversight investigations commonly request documents such as administrative claims filed with executive agencies, correspondence between private counsel and agency attorneys, communications between the White House and agency officials, internal agency memoranda or legal analyses, and records indicating the current status of claims or matters under review.

A federal government shutdown, by causing lapses in appropriations, can limit federal agencies' ability to litigate or continue litigation, and courts may grant stays or pauses in proceedings at the government's request until appropriations are restored by Congress.

The U.S. Attorney General can issue memoranda directing component agencies within the Department of Justice, including the FBI, to assist in protecting federal facilities such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

The United States Congress can pass legislation that would require the Department of Justice to release files related to a federal investigation.

Document disclosures in congressional investigations may include Justice Department records, files held by a subject's estate, emails, and transcripts of interviews with former government officials.

Under standard FBI procedures, FBI agents notify the Department of Justice about allegations of criminal conduct, and DOJ leadership informs relevant transition teams or appointing authorities about such allegations.

The U.S. Attorney General has the authority to direct federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in particular cases.

Materials from criminal investigations can be protected by grand jury secrecy rules, which may limit disclosure of those materials to third parties or the public.

The Department of Justice, in an indictment, characterized Antifa as a militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups that primarily ascribe to revolutionary anarchist or autonomous Marxist ideology and that, according to the indictment, calls for the overthrow of the U.S. government, law enforcement authorities and the legal system.

Agency leaders can designate certain positions as 'excepted' to continue work during a lapse in appropriations, subject to department contingency plans and guidance from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and legal constraints on activities that may lawfully continue during a shutdown.

A legal defense can assert that an indictment signed or secured by an official who was invalidly appointed as an interim U.S. Attorney may be void and subject to dismissal, including dismissal with prejudice, based on alleged constitutional or statutory appointment defects.

Interagency working groups are organizational mechanisms that bring together officials from multiple federal agencies (for example, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the CIA) to share information, coordinate actions, and implement joint activities.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal watchdog agency that investigates whistleblower reports from federal employees.

The Goodman research project categorized judicial criticisms into three categories and reported over 15 cases in which courts found government non-compliance with court orders; over 35 cases in which courts said the government provided false or highly misleading information including false sworn declarations; and over 50 cases in which courts found the government's actions to be arbitrary and capricious.

Federal grand jury secrecy rules restrict what witnesses, including former prosecutors, can publicly disclose about grand jury proceedings without prior Department of Justice authorization.

Special Counsel investigations and prosecutions are expected to follow established legal standards and Department of Justice guidelines.

Former prosecutors may lose access to official investigative files after leaving an office, which can limit their ability to provide full factual testimony about an investigation without restored access or authorization.

Federal prosecutors are required to know and follow the rules governing their conduct from the outset of their service.

'Arctic Frost' was an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice that functioned as a precursor to special counsel Jack Smith's election investigation.

Justice Department election monitors are typically staff in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorneys' offices, and are generally experienced DOJ attorneys rather than law enforcement officers.

Justice Department election monitors do not have access to ballots or voting machines and primarily observe and take notes to document potential federal law violations.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issues written legal opinions assessing the domestic and international legal basis for executive and military actions.

When a judge reviews a government's motion to dismiss criminal charges, the judge evaluates whether the government acted in good faith and provided sufficient factual and legal reasoning for the dismissal.

U.S. attorneys serve as the chief federal prosecutors in their respective Department of Justice offices across the United States.

If Congress passes and the measures become law, legislation can require the U.S. Department of Justice to release specified materials.

The U.S. Congress can vote on and pass legislation that would compel the Department of Justice to release specified agency records or files.

Congressional committees can refer individuals they investigate to the Department of Justice for potential criminal prosecution, and the Department of Justice is not legally required to pursue prosecution based on those referrals.

The Department of Justice has a recognized practice of restricting line prosecutors from testifying before Congress without Departmental authorization or appropriate counsel, according to customary departmental safeguards.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act directs the Department of Justice to publish the released records online in a searchable format.

A legislative provision would permit only U.S. senators who were directly targeted by Department of Justice requests for their information to sue the U.S. government for monetary damages up to $500,000.

The stated purpose of the 'Requiring Senate Notification for Senate Data' provision is to deter the Department of Justice from subpoenaing senators' records without first notifying those senators.

Federal investigators can issue subpoenas to individuals as part of criminal and civil investigations.

The Department of Justice can appoint or designate a special prosecutor to assist with or conduct particular investigations.

Mortgage-fraud investigations can involve interactions or information-sharing between federal law enforcement (such as the Department of Justice) and housing regulators (such as the Federal Housing Finance Agency).