Tag: Attorney General

State Attorneys General Launch Investigation into Instagram’s Effects on Kids

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Young person on Instagram

A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general launched a probe into Instagram on Thursday to examine whether the company violated state-level consumer protection laws.

The states are investigating whether Meta (formerly known as Facebook), which owns Instagram, promoted the image-sharing platform “to children and young adults” despite being aware of its negative effects, according to statements from the attorneys general. The probe cites internal Facebook communications and research leaked by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen and published by The Wall Street Journal showing Meta was aware that use of Instagram could contribute to body image and mental health issues among teens.

“When social media platforms treat our children as mere commodities to manipulate for longer screen time engagement and data extraction, it becomes imperative for state attorneys general to engage our investigative authority under our consumer protection laws,” Republican Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a statement.

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TIME’S UP CEO Resigns over Ties to Cuomo Investigation

Michigan Star Staff
Tina Tchen

The second TIME’S UP co-founder has resigned from her position following backlash over reports that she worked against Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s accusers.

“Now is the time for Time’s Up to evolve and move forward as there is so much more work to do for women,” TIME’S UP co-founder Tina Tchen said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. “It is clear that I am not the leader who can accomplish that in this moment.”

“I am especially aware that my position at the helm of Time’s Up has become a painful and divisive focal point, where those very women and other activists who should be working together to fight for change are instead battling each other in harmful ways,” she added.

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Former State Attorney General Adam Laxalt Launches Senate Bid in Nevada

Michigan Star Staff
Adam Laxalt

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt launched a long-expected Senate bid Tuesday, becoming the highest-profile Republican to take on Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.

“The radical left, rich elites, woke corporations, academia and the media, they’re taking over America,” Laxalt said in an announcement video likening them to Star Wars’ Galactic Empire.

Laxalt served as attorney general from 2015-2019. In 2018 he lost his bid for governor to Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak.

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Commentary: Letters from a D.C. Jail

Michigan Star Staff

This week, five Republican senators sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding his office’s handling of January 6 protesters. The letter revealed the senators are aware that several Capitol defendants charged with mostly nonviolent crimes are being held in solitary confinement conditions in a D.C. jail used exclusively to house Capitol detainees.

Joe Biden’s Justice Department routinely requests—and partisan Beltway federal judges routinely approve—pre-trial detention for Americans arrested for their involvement in the January 6 protest. This includes everyone from an 18-year-old high school senior from Georgia to a 70-year-old Virginia farmer with no criminal record.

It is important to emphasize that the accused have languished for months in prison before their trials even have begun. Judges are keeping defendants behind bars largely based on clips selectively produced by the government from a trove of video footage under protective seal and unavailable to defense lawyers and the public—and for the thoughtcrime of doubting the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.

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Vanita Gupta, Former Obama DOJ Official and Civil Rights Lawyer, Narrowly Confirmed as Associate Attorney General

Michigan Star Staff
Vanita Gupta

The Senate confirmed civil rights lawyer Vanita Gupta to be the Associate Attorney General Wednesday.

Gupta, who will be the third-ranking official at the Department of Justice, was confirmed 51-49, with Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski joining all 50 Democrats voting in favor.

“I have looked at her record, I have had an extensive sit down with her,” Murkowski said before the vote. “I am impressed with her credentials … and the passion that she carries with her with the work that she performs.”

Murkowski acknowledged Gupta’s confirmation was contentious, but said her passion was “impactful.”

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Michigan Attorney General Nessel Won’t Investigate Gov. Whitmer’s Nursing Home Policy

The Center Square

Attorney General Dana Nessel rejected Republicans’ request to investigate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 nursing home policy. 

A Republican state senator said Monday that Attorney General Dana Nessel is expected to announce by the middle of the week whether she will investigate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 nursing home policies.

“I called on the attorney general to carry out an honest investigation into Michigan’s nursing home policies weeks ago,” Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, said in a statement. “I’ve learned from the attorney general’s office that they intend to announce a decision by Wednesday. Attorney General Nessel knows the right thing to do – and that is to get answers for every family who lost a loved one to COVID-19 in a nursing home.”

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Biden to Pick Merrick Garland for Attorney General

Michigan Star Staff

Joe Biden will nominate federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland to serve as attorney general, according to Politico.

Biden’s decision comes after Democrats appear in striking distance of taking control of the Senate following runoff elections in Georgia on Tuesday. Raphael Warnock is projected to defeat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler. Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff is currently leading David Perdue, a Republican incumbent who holds the other seat in Georgia.

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Biden Is Reportedly Considering Andrew Cuomo for Attorney General

Michigan Star Staff

Joe Biden has added New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s name to his short list of candidates to serve as attorney general, according to reports.

Biden is considering three other potential nominees to lead the Department of Justice: Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland.

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Supreme Court Declines to Hear Tennessee’s Challenge to Federal Refugee Resettlement Program

Jason M. Reynolds

The U.S. Supreme Court said this week it will not hear Tennessee’s challenge of the federal refugee resettlement program, which claimed it violated the 10th Amendment.

Tennessee’s Republican-led government had asked for the review, The Associated Press reported. The court filed its denial earlier, letting a lower court ruling stand.

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‘Stunning’: William Barr Hits Establishment Media for ‘Bovine Silence’ on Collapsed Russiagate Narrative

Michigan Star Staff

Attorney General William Barr hit the establishment media in an interview aired Sunday for what he called its “bovine silence” regarding the debunked narrative of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government.

In an interview on “Fox Sunday Futures,” Barr also asserted that the various government investigations into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Kremlin were the “closest we have come to an organized effort to push a president out of office” since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

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AG Barr Says Regional Joint Terrorism Task Forces Directed to Locate, Apprehend Antifa Leaders, Other ‘Radical Agitators’

Anthony Gockowski

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a Sunday statement that the regional Joint Terrorism Task Forces of the FBI  have been directed to locate and apprehend Antifa leaders.

His statement was issued after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would be declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization for its alleged involvement in the terrorizing of major cities after the death of George Floyd.

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Michigan A.G. Nessel Dismisses Charges in One Case, Takes Action in Other After Internal Investigation

Jordyn Pair

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Monday that she filed a motion to dismiss charges against two defendants and set aside the plea of another after an internal investigation into the cases handled by Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej.

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Michigan, Minnesota Attorneys General Join Lawsuit to Stop Reform of Illegal Immigrant Family Units

Jason M. Reynolds

Minnesota and Michigan’s Attorneys General are part of a group of 20 Democratic-led states suing the Trump Administration over its plan to lengthen its detention of illegal immigrant family units to ensure they are held until their cases have been handled.

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Michigan Attorney General Poring Over ‘Millions of Pages’ Seized from Catholic Church

Jason M. Reynolds

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday charged a Catholic priest with one count of False Imprisonment and is poring over millions of pages of church documents, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office said.

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Commentary: Trump Finally Gets His Attorney General

Michigan Star Staff
Newly-minted Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions was officially sworn in as the next attorney general of the United States during a ceremony inside the Oval Office Thursday morning. President Donald Trump used the moment to reiterate that Sessions was a man of “integrity and principle,” and someone who has “devoted his life…

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