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Washington (CNN) - Deputy Attorney General David Ogden, who ran the Justice Department's day-to-day operations, announced Thursday he will soon resign after less than a year in the key post.

Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed the news of the unusually early departure, but gave no indication of any differences between himself and his deputy.

Holder called Ogden "an effective and diligent advocate for the American people."

"I am sorry to see him go, and I thank him for his service to the department and to the nation," Holder said.

Ogden said he would return to his Washington law firm when he steps down on February 5. He said that would provide Holder time to identify his successor and ensure a smooth transition.

"The goals I hoped to achieve when I accepted this position either have been or soon will be fulfilled," Ogden said in a prepared statement. "The Department is in good hands, and I feel I can now return to the private practice I have missed these thirteen months," he said.

Ogden held the position which Holder occupied under former Attorney General Janet Reno.

Washington (CNN) – Federal authorities Thursday indicted 26 suspects in nine states in a wide-ranging scheme to defraud a program intended to help the deaf.

Officials said they arrested conspirators in New York, New Jersey,
Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Maryland.

"The individuals charged in connection with today's operation are alleged to have stolen tens of millions of dollars from an important government program that is intended to help deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans communicate with hearing persons," said Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

Breuer told reporters the defendants allegedly generated fraudulent call minutes by making it appear that deaf Americans were engaging in legitimate calls with hearing persons. "In reality, the defendants were simply attempting to steal money from an FCC program that is funded by every single American who pays their telephone bills," he said.

The FBI was deeply involved in the investigation, authorities said.

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2/3 of recovered funds come from federal health care fraud, Justice Dept. says.

Washington (CNN) – Two of every three dollars federal authorities recovered from frauds against the government come from health care fraud, a top Justice Department official disclosed Thursday.

As the cost of proposed health care programs is front and center for the president and the Senate, Assistant Attorney General Tony West told reporters that $1.6 billion of the $2.4 billion recovered through lawsuits during the past year was the direct result of fraud against federal health care programs.

The $2.4 billion in settlements and court judgments against defendants
accused of fraud is the second largest annual recovery of civil fraud claims in history, West said.

The Justice Department has stepped up enforcement of health care fraud through the use of regional strike forces.

West said of the 1,040 cases currently under investigation, about 600 deal with health care fraud. A much smaller number deal with defense procurement fraud and other claims.

Most health care fraud charges in recent months have focused on people accused of overcharging Medicare for wheelchairs and other medical devices.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The activist community-organizing group ACORN will be the subject of a limited investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general, the internal watchdog office announced Monday.

Inspector General Glenn Fine said he is opening the review in response to a request from the top Republican on a key House Committee.

In a brief letter to Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Fine said he will investigate whether ACORN applied for or received any Justice Department grant funds, and if so, whether the Justice Department had conducted any audits or reviews of ACORN's use of such funds.

Smith, who also wants the FBI to open a full criminal investigation, is the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

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In the videos, the individuals seek advice on setting up a brothel with underage women from El Salvador.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The community organizing group ACORN Wednesday announced a hiring freeze, new training programs and an independent review of its programs following the recent release of a series of videotapes embarrassing to the agency.

The videos - secretly taped by two individuals posing as a pimp and prostitute –showed ACORN employees in four of the agency's offices suggesting or condoning a series of illicit actions as the couple sought advice on setting up a brothel with underage women from El Salvador.

"We have all been deeply disturbed by what we've seen in some of these videos," said ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis. "I must say on behalf of ACORN's Board and our Advisory Council that we will go to whatever lengths necessary to reestablish the public trust."

The steps announced include an immediate halt in hiring for all ACORN offices, an immediate training program for all frontline staff, and selection of an independent auditor by the end of this week.

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Thursday the current attorney general praised his predecessor Michael Mukasey, pictured.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - At a rare Justice Department event featuring a mix of smiling Democratic and Republican luminaries, Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday praised his GOP predecessor Michael Mukasey for "skill, honor, and great integrity" during his 15-month tenure.

Without mentioning the acrimony and bitter political battles that peaked during during two tumultuous years under then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who preceded Mukasey, Holder credited Mukasey for agreeing to take the job when "the Justice Department was engulfed in turmoil."

"I can say we are continuing the work you started to restore the Justice Department. You leave a mark here of patriotism, integrity and honor," Holder concluded.

Holder hosted the event at the ornate Great Hall to honor Mukasey with the traditional unveiling of the former attorney general's commissioned portrait, which will hang among the 81 past attorneys general outside Holder's office.
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The Justice Department submitted a court filing Monday that called a federal law regarding same-sex marriage 'discriminatory' but asked the court to throw out a challenge to the law.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Monday declared that the Defense of Marriage Act discriminates against gays and lesbians, even as his administration moved in federal court to defend the law.

In a court filing in Los Angeles, Justice Department lawyers urged a federal judge to throw out a case brought by a gay couple married in California.

"The Department of Justice has filed a response to a legal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged," the president said in a written statement. "This brief makes clear, however, that my administration believes that the act is discriminatory and should be repealed by Congress."

That did not satisfy leaders of the gay rights community.

"It is not enough to disavow this discriminatory law, and then wait for Congress or the courts to act," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "While they contend that is the (Department of Justice's) duty to defend an act of Congress, we contend that it is the administration's duty to defend every citizen from discrimination."

In his presidential campaign, Obama had strong backing from the gay community because of his promise to press for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
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Attorney General Eric Holder will not comment on the Cambridge, Massachusetts incident.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Attorney General Eric Holder who made headlines when he referred to the American people as "essentially a nation of cowards" in failing to openly discuss racial issues is staying mum on the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police incident.

Holder's chief spokesman said Holder would defer to the White House for comment on the controversial issue.

"Given that the president just spoke on this, I don't think we have anything to add," said Justice Department Director of Public Affairs Matthew Miller, a senior aide to Holder.

President Obama waded into the issue again Friday, informing the White House press corps he had spoken with Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley and said he had not meant to criticize either Crowley or the city's police department. The president later also called Professor Henry Louis Gates.

Holder issued his blunt assessment of race relations in a major speech at the Justice Department on February 19, where he addressed an overflow crowd celebrating Black History Month.

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be in too many ways essentially a nation of cowards," he said then.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken volunteered to switch seats with Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy after the Vermont senator's microphone stopped working.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - It's only his first Senate hearing, but Sen. Al Franken took the chairman's seat at the Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

When Chairman Patrick Leahy experienced a technical problem with his microphone, Franken volunteered to switch places with the Vermont senator, and sit in Leahy's chair. Faced with little choice, Leahy ambled down to the far end of the dais, and sat in the junior senator's chair to finish his prepared written statement. Franken, meanwhile, sat in Leahy's chair smiling from ear to ear.

Ranking Republican Jeff Sessions congratulated Franken on the move to the chairman's spot: "This is the fastest rise of any senator in history!" But the Minnesota senator's shift was short-lived: he soon relinquished the chair, and waited on the side until Leahy finished his statement. Leahy then returned to the chairman's seat, where a new microphone was in place. And Franken returned to the tail end of the committee seating chart.

Franken is in his sixth day in the Senate.

A demonstration in Chicago in 2006 protests the Bush administration's wiretapping program.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The highly controversial warrantless surveillance program initiated by President George W. Bush began within weeks of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a newly released report to Congress compiled by the inspectors general of the nation's top intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, and the Justice Department.

The report, mandated by Congress, provides context to information that has been leaked in press accounts and buttressed by congressional testimony and in books authored by former officials involved in the surveillance effort.

The report notes that several members of Congress - including then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Nancy Pelosi - were briefed on the program on October 25, 2001, and a total of 17 times before the program became public in 2005.

Among other things, the report also cites a Justice Department conclusion that "it was extraordinary and inappropriate that a single DOJ attorney, John Yoo, was relied upon to conduct the initial legal assessment of the (surveillance program)."

"The lack of oversight and review of Yoo's work ... contributed to a legal analysis of the (program) that at a minimum was factually flawed," it says.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Obama administration has promised to classify photos of alleged U.S. abuse of prisoners and detainees if that is necessary to keep the controversial photos under wraps, a senior Republican senator announced Wednesday.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, informed Attorney General Eric Holder at a Judiciary Committee hearing that Graham had just won the promise from the White House chief of staff.

"A moment ago Rahm Emanuel indicated to me that the president will not let these photos see the light of day," Graham told Holder at a packed Committee hearing.

Graham is pressing for a congressional prohibition against the release of hundreds of allegedly explosive photos of prisoner abuse that U.S. military leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan believe would fuel anger in the region and endanger U.S. troops.

But if the Congress fails to act and the courts rule against the administration, it would be left to the president to find a way to keep the photos from being released.

"I think having Congress act would be a preferred way," Holder replied.
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Stephen Tyrone Johns was shot and killed while working at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Justice Department sources say no preliminary decisions have been made on what charges may be brought against the gunman in the Holocaust Memorial shootings, if the shooter survives his gunshot wounds.

Officials said it was likely that the Metropolitan Police Department may lead the investigation if a decision is made to proceed with firearms or shooting charges, while the FBI will likely be the lead if evidence leads them to file federal civil rights-related charges.

An official says if the shooter survives, charges can be brought against him whether or not he is physically able to appear in court, and if and when he becomes physically able to do so the prosecution would then commence. But it will likely be hours - maybe days - before a decision is made.

Prosecutors had no information on the suspect's medical condition.

UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: Now that security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns has died, the rifle used by the suspect has potentially become a murder weapon. It is currently in the hands of the U.S. Park Police, which has asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to urgently trace the weapon.

The ATF has asked its weapons tracing center in West Virginia to expedite a trace on the rifle, which could be completed by tomorrow. The trace should at a minimum provide the original sale and ownership of the weapon. The ATF is also trying to determine where the weapon has been, and how it came to be used in the deadly shooting at the Holocaust Museum.

One of many questions is whether the suspect was a convicted felon who should either have turned in his weapons or been barred from owning them.

Related: Guard killed during museum shooting

Attorney General Eric Holder is tasked with pioneering a legally feasible plan to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Attorney General Eric Holder's Guantanamo Review Task Force is struggling to sort the prison detainees into five neatly ordered lists, as government lawyers try to somehow fashion a plan which will clear expected legal challenges while satisfying skeptical lawmakers and a nervous public.

Every turn appears more complicated as the weeks pass.

On the immediate heels of a demand by Congress for a clear and specific plan for emptying Guantanamo, one of President Barack Obama's top aides, David Axelrod, promised Thursday that Congress would receive such a plan, and declared the president's address Thursday represented a "framework for a plan." Administration officials indicate the plan itself is probably months away.

During an address on national security at the National Archives in Washington, Obama defended his decision to close the detention center at Guantanamo, and he outlined categories in which to separate the remaining detainees.

The framework calls for putting the names of the 240 remaining detainees into five piles, then trying to resolve the legal complexities of each.

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The Attorney General spoke at the National Press Club in Washington Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Two months after Attorney General Eric Holder was widely criticized for his assertion that Americans are a "nation of cowards" for not openly discussing race, Holder said Wednesday he now sees some movement.

"I think there is a dialogue going on. But I'm still worried the comfort level isn't there," Holder told the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Holder told the organization's luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington the discomfort is particularly evident on the subject of affirmative action. He said citizens are reluctant to speak out, fearing that they'll be "seen as a racist."

Holder said he supports affirmative action and sees it as a way "to encourage diversity where everyone wins."

The attorney general said he believes career civil rights lawyers were "cut out of the process" in important decision-making by political appointees in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division during the Bush Administration, and wants that process reversed.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - The FBI has failed to place the names of dozens of suspected terrorists on the government's watch list, an omission that could have "significant consequences to public safety," the Justice Department's watchdog says.

In a report released Wednesday, Inspector General Glenn Fine sharply criticizes the FBI for failing to add 35 terrorism subjects to the consolidated watch list, and for being slow to add many others.

He says he found at least 12 people - ones either not put on the list or added after an excessive delay - who may have been moving about the United States during the time they were not listed.

The report also says the FBI failed to remove several people from the list after they had been cleared.

The consolidated list is used to screen individuals seeking to enter the United States and those who are stopped by local police agencies. It was created in 2003 to bring order to the flurry of separate agency watch lists that quickly developed following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - A federal judge Monday granted the government's request to dismiss all charges against two former pro-Israel lobbyists who had been accused of providing U.S. military secrets to Israel.

U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis dismissed the charges against Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman after Justice Department prosecutors Friday announced their case had fallen apart, and asked the court to drop the charges.

Prosecutors said the decision was forced by adverse appeals court rulings that would have required disclosing military secrets in court and would have required a higher burden of proof to win a conviction.

Defense attorneys said the defendants were innocent of the charges and insisted the case should never have been brought in the first place.

Holder did not indicate when and how the United States would release or criminally charge detainees on U.S. soil.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking in Berlin Wednesday night, appealed to European nations to accept some of the detainees held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to help the Obama Administration close down the prison facility.

"I know that Europe did not open Guantanamo, and that in fact, a great many on this continent opposed it, Holder said in his address at the American Academy of Berlin. "To close Guantanamo, we must all make sacrifices and we must all be willing to make unpopular choices," Holder said.

"The United States is ready to do its part, and we hope that Europe will join us– not out of a sense of responsibility, but from a commitment to work with one of its oldest allies to confront one of the world's most pressing challenges," the Attorney General said.

Holder did not indicate when and how the United States would release or criminally charge detainees on U.S. soil.

Hours earlier, Holder told reporters that to date 30 of the remaining 241 Guantanamo detainees have been cleared to be released. U.S. officials have signalled they expect at least a few of the 17 Chinese Muslims held at the naval prison to be freed in the U.S.

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Holder faced some tough congressional questions Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Attorney General Eric Holder was decidedly non-committal Thursday as he was buffeted on Capitol Hill by alternating demands to release - or not - more secret torture-related documents, and to prosecute - or not– Bush administration officials who wrote and approved those documents.

Holder was scheduled to appear before a House committee to discuss the Justice Department budget, but lawmakers threw away the script and overwhelmed him with pointed questions about the memos and accountability for the interrogation policies.

The toughest exchanges were with the top Republican in the session, Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. Wolf insisted Holder provide still-secret documents which former Vice President Dick Cheney says detail valuable intelligence gained from the use of the harsh techniques against captured suspected terrorists.

"You have an obligation to release the rest of the memos," Wolf demanded.

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Some groups want Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the issue.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that he would "follow the law" as he weighed potential prosecutions of Bush administration officials who authorized controversial harsh interrogation techniques.

In Holder's first public comments on the issue since President Obama's statements on the matter Tuesday, the attorney general responded to questions briefly and cautiously.

"We are going to follow the evidence, follow the law and take that where it leads. No one is above the law," Holder said at an Earth Day event.

Some human rights groups have demanded that Holder appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the matter, but the attorney general appears to be in no hurry to decide how to proceed.

Obama said Tuesday that the attorney general would ultimately decide whether to proceed with prosecutions of those in the Bush administration who drew up the legal basis for aggressive interrogation techniques.

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