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LINDSAY WHITEHURST

Criminal justice reporter

Whitehurst is a national criminal justice reporter for The Associated Press, based in Washington, D.C. She covers the Justice Department, public safety and legal issues.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, Dec. 13, 2023. Prosecutors say a former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with officials affiliated with Russian intelligence.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens had Russian intelligence contacts, prosecutors say
Prosecutors say a former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with officials affiliated with Russian intelligence.
 
FILE - Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol, Dec. 13, 2023, in Washington. Hunter Biden's lawyers say claims made by a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a bribery scheme involving the presidential family may have tainted the case against the president's son.(AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
Hunter Biden’s lawyers suggest his case is tainted by claims of ex-FBI informant charged with lying
Hunter Biden’s lawyers say claims made by a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a bribery scheme involving the presidential family may have tainted the case against the president’s son.
 
Washington Metropolitan Police are shown near a scene where three police officers were shot and a fourth suffered minor injuries while responding to a shooting, Wednesday morning, Feb. 14, 2024 in Washington. The officers are expected to survive the wounds and were being treated at area hospitals after the shooting in the nation's capital, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement posted online. The fourth officer's injuries were not gunshot wounds, police said. The police union said three of its members had been shot by a suspect and were taken to area hospitals with gunshot wounds. (AP Photos/Nathan Ellgren)
Charges filed against man accused of shooting 3 Washington police officers
Prosecutors have filed assault and gun charges against a Washington, D.C., man accused of shooting three police officers trying to serve an animal cruelty warrant, touching off a daylong standoff.
 
President Joe Biden, center, talks to his grandson Beau, left, as son Hunter Biden, right, looks on after dining at The Ivy in Los Angeles, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. Today is Hunter Biden's birthday. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden’s ties to Ukrainian energy company
An FBI informant has been charged with lying to authorities about a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme between President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.
 
FILE - The Federal Correctional Institution stands in Dublin, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2022. A watchdog report released Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, found that systemic failures contributed to the deaths of hundreds of federal prisoners in recent years. The scathing report found mental health care, emergency responses and the detection of contraband drugs and weapons were all lacking. It's the latest sign of crisis at the federal Bureau of Prisons, which is also dealing with widespread staffing shortages. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Prison deaths report finds widespread missteps, failures in latest sign of crisis in federal prisons
A watchdog report has found that the kind of systemic failures that enabled the high-profile prison deaths of gangster Whitey Bulger and financier Jeffrey Epstein also contributed to the deaths of hundreds of other federal prisoners over the years.
 
Threats to federal judges have more than doubled in ‘alarming’ spike, US Marshals director says
Federal judges targeted by threats have more than doubled over the last three years amid a surge in violent and harassing messages directed at public officials around the country.
 
Washington Metropolitan Police are shown near a scene where three police officers were shot and a fourth suffered minor injuries while responding to a shooting, Wednesday morning, Feb. 14, 2024 in Washington. The officers are expected to survive the wounds and were being treated at area hospitals after the shooting in the nation's capital, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement posted online. The fourth officer's injuries were not gunshot wounds, police said. The police union said three of its members had been shot by a suspect and were taken to area hospitals with gunshot wounds. (AP Photos/Nathan Ellgren)
3 officers shot in Washington, leading to daylong standoff before suspect’s arrest
Three police officers were shot trying to make an animal cruelty arrest that touched off an hourslong standoff in the nation’s capitol on Wednesday.
 
President Joe Biden speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Biden angrily pushes back at special counsel’s report that questioned his memory
A special counsel report has found evidence that President Joe Biden “willfully” retained and shared highly classified materials when he was a private citizen, including documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan.
 
FBI contractor stole an agent’s car and tried to enter a restricted facility, authorities say
The FBI says a contract worker stole an agent’s car from the bureau headquarters in Washington and tried to get into a restricted facility before he was arrested.
 
FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2010 file photo, an eBay logo is seen at their offices in San Jose, Calif. Online retailer eBay Inc. will cut about 1,000 jobs, or an estimated 9% of its full-time workforce, saying its number of employees and costs have exceeded how much the business is growing in a slowing economy. It marks the latest layoffs in the tech industry. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
EBay will pay $59 million settlement over pill presses sold online as US undergoes overdose epidemic
The e-commerce giant eBay will pay a $59 million in a settlement with the Justice Department over thousands of pill press machines sold on the the platform.
 
FILE - Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, Dec. 13, 2023. Hunter Biden has again asked a judge to dismiss the federal gun case against him, arguing it is politically motivated and key evidence was tested after charges were filed. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana. File)
Hunter Biden’s lawyers press for dismissal of gun charges by arguing they are politically motivated
Hunter Biden has again asked a judge to dismiss the federal gun case against him, arguing it is politically motivated and key evidence was tested after charges were filed.
 
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland speaks during a news conference where he and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta shared the findings of a federal report into the law enforcement response to a school shooting at Robb Elementary, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Attorney General Merrick Garland to undergo surgery, Justice Department says
Attorney General Merrick Garland will undergo back surgery this weekend and delegate his duties to the deputy attorney general during the procedure.
 
FILE - The exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building is seen in Washington, on March 22, 2013. Charles Edward Littlejohn, a former contractor for the IRS who pleaded guilty to leaking tax information to news outlets about former President Donald Trump and thousands of the country's wealthiest people, was sentenced to 5 years in prison Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Ex-IRS contractor gets five years in prison for leak of tax return information of Trump, rich people
A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service who pleaded guilty to leaking tax information to news outlets about former President Donald Trump and thousands of the country’s wealthiest people was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday.
 
FILE - Defense lawyer David Kenner arrives at federal court for the trial of Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, a member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, in an alleged campaign finance conspiracy, April 3, 2023, in Washington. Kenner pleaded guilty Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, to leaking grand jury information to reporters about the case against Michel. Kenner also agreed to pay a $5,000 fine. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Prominent celebrity lawyer pleads guilty to leaking documents to reporters in Fugees rapper’s case
A prominent defense attorney has pleaded guilty to leaking grand jury information to reporters about a political conspiracy case against a rapper from the Fugees.
 
Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro talks to the media as he arrives at U.S. Federal Courthouse in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Trump White House official convicted of defying Jan. 6 congressional subpoena will be sentenced
Another Trump White House official convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S.
 
FILE - The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Soon after Lahaina Hongwanji Mission burned in a wildfire that decimated much of the historic coastal town, the Japanese Buddhist temple's resident minister was desperate to go back and see what remained. Now, he's more hesitant. The Rev. Ai Hironaka and other Lahaina residents are grappling with a range of feelings as Maui authorities plan to begin allowing them back into what has become known as the "burn zone." (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP, File)
911 calls from Maui capture pleas for the stranded, the missing and those caught in the fire’s chaos
The day after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century destroyed a seaside community on Maui, the barrage of 911 calls didn’t stop.
 
FILE - In this photo from surveillance video provided by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District via the Austin American-Statesman, authorities respond to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. A Justice Department report released Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 details a myriad of failures by police who responded to the Uvalde, Texas school shooting that led to children waiting desperately for over an hour before officers stormed a classroom to take down the gunman. (Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)
The police response to the Uvalde shooting was riddled with failures, a new DOJ report says
The Justice Department says police officials who responded to the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, “demonstrated no urgency” in setting up a command post and failed to treat the killings as an active shooter situation.
 
FILE - Attorney General Merrick Garland talks during a news conference on Jan. 5, 2024, in Washington, about ongoing efforts to combat violent crime in cities across the United States. Just a few months after he took office, Garland issued a moratorium to halt federal executions — a stark contrast after his predecessor carried out 13 in six months. Under Garland's watch and a president who vowed to abolish the death penalty, the Justice Department took on no new death penalty cases. That changed Friday as federal prosecutors said they would seek capital punishment for a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
Mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket now Justice Department’s first death penalty case under Garland
Just a few months after he took office, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium to halt federal executions — a stark contrast after his predecessor carried out 13 in six months.
 
Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, accompanied by his attorney Abbe Lowell, leaves a House Oversight Committee hearing as Republicans are taking the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Hunter Biden indicates willingness to comply with a Republican subpoena under certain conditions
Hunter Biden has indicated a new willingness to testify before lawmakers under certain conditions as part of the impeachment inquiry against his father President Joe Biden.
 
Number of police officer deaths dropped last year, report finds
A new report finds the number of police officers who died on the job dropped again last year, including deaths from gunfire, traffic accidents and COVID-19.
 
This image from police body-worn video and contained in the Justice Department statement of facts supporting the arrest of Frank Dahlquist, shows Dahlquist outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Dahlquist was charged Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, with spraying a chemical irritant on police officers during the riot at the U.S. Capitol. (Department of Justice via AP)
Montana fire chief who had refused vaccine mandate in Washington state charged in Jan. 6 riot
A Montana fire chief who lost a previous job over a coronavirus vaccine mandate has been charged with spraying a chemical irritant on police officers during the riot at the U.S.
 
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media at a Washington hotel, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, after attending a hearing before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals at the federal courthouse in Washington, with attorneys John Lauro, left, and D. John Sauer, right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
With Trump present in court, judges express skepticism of claims that he’s immune from prosecution
Former President Donald Trump says a president “has to have immunity.” But federal appeals court judges in Washington are expressing deep skepticism that he is immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden.
 
FILE - This undated photo provided by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, shows U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. A home owned by the judge overseeing the federal election subversion case against former president Donald Trump was targeted by a fake emergency call Sunday night, the latest in a spate of similar false swatting reports at the homes of public officials. (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts via AP, File)
Judge in Trump’s DC election case is targeted by fake emergency call in latest high-profile swatting
A home owned by the judge overseeing the federal election subversion case against former president Donald Trump was targeted by a fake emergency call Sunday night, the latest in a spate of similar false swatting reports at the homes of public officials.
 
Wayne LaPierre, CEO and executive vice-president of the National Rifle Association, addresses the National Rifle Association Convention, Friday, April 14, 2023, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
NRA chief, one of the most powerful figures in US gun policy, says he’s resigning days before trial
Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the National Rifle Association, is stepping down just days before the start of a New York civil trial that’s poised to scrutinize his leadership of the influential gun rights organization.
 
Attorney General Merrick Garland talks during a news conference on ongoing efforts to combat violent crime in cities across the United States Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
New gun law has blocked over 500 firearms from being bought by young people, attorney general says
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that more than 500 gun purchases have been blocked since a new gun law requiring stricter background checks for young people went into effect in 2022.
 
FILE - This photo shows part of the Justice Department's statement of facts in the complaint and arrest warrant for Christopher Worrell. Worrell, a member of the Proud Boys extremist group who went on the run after he was convicted of assaulting police with pepper spray in the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol and then allegedly faked a drug overdose after he was caught was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
Proud Boys member who went on the run after conviction in the Jan. 6 riot gets 10 years in prison
A member of the Proud Boys extremist group has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
 
FILE - This undated photo provided by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, shows U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. A home owned by the judge overseeing the federal election subversion case against former president Donald Trump was targeted by a fake emergency call Sunday night, the latest in a spate of similar false swatting reports at the homes of public officials. (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts via AP, File)
Judges overseeing Trump cases in New York and DC are latest targets as bogus ‘swatting’ calls surge
Bomb threats and false reports of shootings at the homes of public officials, state capitols and courthouses have surged in recent weeks, including some connected to court cases against former president Donald Trump.
 
FILE - A Los Angeles Police officer wears an on-body cameras during a demonstration for media in Los Angeles, Jan. 15, 2014. An influential policing think tank is pushing law enforcement agencies to change how they handle body camera footage after police shootings, saying officers should not be able to review video before making their first statements to investigators. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)
Group pushes for change in how police use body camera footage in officer shooting probes
An influential policing think tank is pushing law enforcement agencies to change how they handle body camera footage after police shootings.
 
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a commit to caucus rally, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023, in Waterloo, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Trump transformed the Supreme Court. Now the justices could decide his political and legal future
The Supreme Court is being thrust into the middle of two cases carrying enormous political and legal implications just weeks before the first votes in in the Iowa caucuses.
 
FILE - Signs fill the lawn of a model home in the Santa Fe subdivision of the Colony Ridge development Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in Cleveland, Texas. The Justice Department filed its first predatory mortgage lending case Wednesday, Dec. 20, against a Texas developer accused of luring tens of thousands of Hispanic homebuyers into “bait and switch” sales through platforms like TikTok. The lawsuit focuses on a massive development northeast of Houston, Colony Ridge. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Justice Department sues Texas developer accused of luring Hispanic homebuyers into predatory loans
The Justice Department has filed its first predatory mortgage lending case against a Texas developer accused of luring tens of thousands of Hispanic homebuyers into “bait and switch” sales through platforms like TikTok.
 
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