Key Takeaways
- In the memo, Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen extended the “forbearance” period from its previously extended date of June 14 to “December 31, 2019 or 60 days after entry of final judgement in the New Hampshire litigation, whichever is later.”
- Rosen deems the extension “an internal exercise in prosecutorial discretion.”
- Rosen has also directed any charges related to the Wire Act be “reviewed and approved by the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.”
The US Department of Justice issued a memorandum on Wednesday directing all U.S. Attorneys, Assistant Attorneys General, and the FBI to refrain from applying the Department’s revised opinion on the Wire Act until at least the end of the year.
The directive comes just days after Federal District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro ruled that the Wire Act “applies only to transmissions related to bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest” in a case brought against the DOJ by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission (NHLC).
It ultimately set aside the 2018 Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that the 1961 Wire Act criminalizes other forms of gambling conducted across phone wires and the internet beyond sports betting.
