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Inset: Jack Smith speaks about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, at a Department of Justice office in Washington (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File). Background: President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo/Alex Brandon).
The Trump administration may do away with the U.S. Department of Justice division that deals with government corruption, according to over 900 former federal prosecutors.
In an open letter published Monday, hundreds of onetime U.S. Attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and less-prominent counsel warned of something not entirely unlike a sea change occurring at the DOJ.
The relatively short missive is addressed to “career federal prosecutors” of current stock and recent vintage — including those who resigned since the 47th president took office earlier this year. The letter appears to be commentary on the scandal over the decision to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat.
In the aftermath of that decision, several top DOJ officials tendered their letters of resignation, including the now-former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon.
While the Big Apple’s former top federal law enforcement official did not add her name to the list, those who did suggest the ongoing, highly-public, and heavily-criticized Adams imbroglio is just the beginning.
“Some of you have been ordered to make charging decisions based expressly on considerations other than the facts and the law, including to serve solely political purposes,” the letter reads.
The ex-prosecutors claim that “someone’s political association, activities or beliefs” never had any influence on DOJ charging decisions when they were employed with the agency — a time period which dates back as far as the 1950s and goes up to almost-present day, according to the letter.
“We knew it was impermissible to treat a defendant more leniently just because they were powerful or well-connected, or more harshly because they were not,” the letter goes on. “We were taught to pursue justice without fear or favor, and knew our decisions to investigate and charge should be based only on the facts and the law.”
This understanding of the climate at the DOJ during Joe Biden’s tenure as president — during which time the federal charges against Adams were filed — is not, of course, shared by the Trump administration.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, in his famously hard-charging letter accepting Sassoon’s resignation, termed the Adams case “a politically motivated prosecution” and, in several other instances, chided Sassoon and other SDNY alumni for “politicization.”
To hear the former prosecutors tell it, however, the non-political “values” of the DOJ “have been tested by recent actions of the Department’s leadership.”
Notably, former special counsel Jack Smith is among the signatories of the open letter.
While the letter does not tie its rhetoric to any specific event, the implication is clear that the “alarm” felt is a byproduct of the decisions by those who are currently holding the reins in Washington, D.C.
“We knew these values were more than just requirements in a manual — they were foundational to a fair and just legal system,” the letter reads. “And we upheld them no matter who was President.”
As the consternation over the Adams spat snowballed, at least seven prosecutors quit their posts. And then, without resigning, other SDNY attorneys simply refused to sign their names on the requisite paperwork that would allow for the case to formally be dismissed.
On Valentine’s Day, Bove held a meeting with the remaining lawyers in the Public Integrity Section, reportedly threatening to fire each and every one of them unless someone volunteered to serve as the attorney of record as the Adams case petered out. Eventually, Senior Litigation Counsel Edward Sullivan signed his name on the motion.
The open letter makes a clear reference to the threat of such mass-firings — and what they might portend.
“Some of you have been forced to consider whether your actions will result in the elimination of the Public Integrity Section, created in the wake of the Watergate scandal, and whose vital work is intended to protect the public from government corruption,” the letter reads. “Several of you have resigned, and others are wondering what will happen to the Department we served and revere.”
While lacking anything concrete in terms of support, the document can also be read as a statement outlining principles and offering solidarity.
The letter ends [emphasis in original]:
To all of you, we communicate this: We salute and admire the courage many of you have already exhibited, and that will guide all of you as you continue to serve the interests of justice. You have responded to ethical challenges of a type no public servant should ever be forced to confront with principle and conviction, in the finest traditions of the Department of Justice. We know there will be more challenges ahead, and we have no doubt that those of you who continue to serve will uphold the Department’s values for the sake of the rule of law, just as you have always done. Please know that when you do, generations of former federal prosecutors are watching with pride and admiration and stand ready to support you in this honorable pursuit.
