DoJ to hold off on Wire Act enforcement until 2020
A memo from the US Deputy Attorney General has informed law enforcement staff working under the Department of Justice (DoJ) that there will be no attempt to enforce the revised interpretation of the Wire Act until 2020.
The letter, from new Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, extends the forbearance period for the revised opinion to December 31, 2019, or 60 days after the final judgement in New Hampshire’s legal challenge against the new opinion, whichever is later.
The DoJ originally stated that it would enforce the law, based on the stance that the Wire Act applies to all forms of gambling, 90 days after the revised opinion was published in January, from April 15. In March this was pushed back to June 14.
With that deadline falling tomorrow, the Department has now effectively stated that it will not prosecute companies for failing to comply with its interpretation of the Wire Act this year. Rosen has also informed law enforcement officials that the moratorium on prosecuting state lotteries for non-compliance, issued in April, remains in place.