Attorneys General call for DOJ to scrap 2018 Wire Act ‘reinterpretation’
| By Richard Mulligan
Attorneys General from across the US have urged the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to rescind a formal legal opinion that found state-sanctioned online lotteries and casino could be subject to criminal prosecution under the federal Wire Act.
Some 26 state Attorneys General, who are the top legal officers of their state or territory, signed a letter sent to US Attorney General Merrick Garland urging that DOJ issues a formal memorandum rescinding its 2018 opinion “Reconsidering Whether the Wire Act Applies to Non-Sports Gambling.”
That 2018 DOJ opinion reversed a 2011 position which held that the 1961 Wire Act applied to only sports betting, thereby making online lottery sales and other non-sports-related online gaming safe from federal prosecution.