The US Department of Justice is being asked to reverse their opinion on the Federal Wire Act… again.If they do so, it will be the third time their opinion has fluctuated on the matter.

The DOJ used the Wire Act in an attempt to criminalize online gambling in America prior to 2011. That’s when they reversed their opinion and stated that the Act only applied to sports betting. But that wouldn’t last.

When a new administration took office, the Justice Department changed opinion yet again. In 2018, they reverted back to their old notion that the Act does, in fact, apply to all areas of online gambling.

They stuck with that opinion until recently, when a Federal Judge decided that the Act, in fact, does strictly apply to bets placed on sporting events… and even then, only to bets placed across state lines.

After losing their appeal in that case, it would seem that the DOJ has given up in their quest to use the Wire Act against the gambling and lottery industries. And now, twenty-six state Attorneys General have requested that they officially change their position that the Act applies to other forms of gambling.

The Attorneys General want the Department to declare that the Act applies strictly to sports betting activity. They seek the acknowledgement that online gambling in their states does not constitute a federal crime. The Justice Department was not available for comment.