Overview
- The department announced a Special Attorneys Program offering $300 million to place state, local, Tribal, and territorial prosecutors as special federal attorneys to pursue fraud and other crimes committed by criminal aliens along with drug and human trafficking crimes.
- A memo from Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald ordered every U.S. Attorney’s Office to detail an experienced prosecutor in place to the Washington-based division and said those detailees will need division approval before taking new cases starting July 1.
- DOJ is consolidating criminal fraud work by giving the division operational control of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section, Health Care Fraud Unit, and the Market, Government and Consumer Fraud Unit to standardize charging and case strategy.
- Agencies were told to report ongoing investigations involving taxpayer-funded programs as DOJ plans a National Fraud Detection Center to spot patterns and flag targets for quicker prosecutions.
- DOJ says the push backs President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud led by Vice President J. D. Vance, while reporting highlights staff shortages in U.S. Attorney offices and questions about traditional limits on White House referrals.