If anyone is starting to get tired of hearing about the U.S. Federal Wire Act and the Department of Justice (DOJ), sorry – things are just getting rolling and there will be much more to follow. The lid has only been unscrewed a little and is about to be blown off in spectacular fashion.

In case anyone hasn’t heard about the most popular, and controversial, story in the U.S. sports gambling world, the DOJ recently backpedaled on a long-held opinion regarding the Wire Act, which, among other things, prevents interstate money transactions. The DOJ had previously asserted – almost nine years ago – that the legislation, as it applied to gambling activities, only considered sports gambling. This past January, however, it somehow managed to decide that it has been wrong all of this time and that the Wire Act applies to all forms of online gambling.

The outrage following the DOJ’s reversal was swift and wide-reaching. Many wondered how it would be possible for the top law enforcement department in the country to suddenly decide to change course on a topic so sensitive, coincidentally after sports gambling became legal across the U.S. The immediate reaction, which was based on certain assumptions and intuitive deductions, was that someone in the gambling industry – perhaps someone like outspoken online gambling opponent Sheldon Adelson – forced the DOJ to reverse its stance.

New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Lottery, has already announced that it is suing “the U.S.A.,” along with U.S. Attorney General William Barr and the DOJ. Soon after that lawsuit was launched, New Jersey and Pennsylvania got onboard and, now Michigan is rallying for the cause, as well. The Michigan Lottery has filed an amicus brief, which gives it the right, if approved, to participate in the lawsuit.