DOJ expanding controversial asset seizures programs

[n2doc]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday advised his Department of Justice (DOJ) to reestablish a criminal asset seizure program that had been curbed under pressure from lawmakers and civil liberties groups worried that the policy is ripe for abuse.

The Justice Department, with President Trump's support, will give new authority to law enforcement agencies to seize money, contraband and property when they can prove those assets are the ill-gotten gains of criminal activity.

In an agency-wide memo, the acting chief of the DOJ's Criminal Division, Deborah Connor, characterized the program as an essential tool in starving gang members, drug traffickers and terrorists of their means and tools.

more

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/342702-doj-expanding-controversial-asset-seizures-programs

Mob shakedowns, conducted by Police departments.

[Squinch]

1. That scene from Handmaid's Tale just flashed through my mind...

(If you haven't seen it, no spoilers, but there is a scene where the government just appropriates all of the assets of a large chunk of the population.)

[SHRED]

2. Will this include high rise apartments in Manhattan?

The ones saved by dirty Russian money?