Trump ally Laura Loomer clashes with his own Justice Department

Senior Trump administration officials are questioning Laura Loomer’s campaign against the Justice Department, suggesting the president’s outspoken ally may have a personal interest in a legal battle that could generate billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded fees for a lawyer she considers a friend.

With President Donald Trump scheduled to hold a midterm rally in North Carolina on Tuesday, the right-wing provocateur launched another sharp online attack on the DOJ over what she called “insulting lowball offers” to victims of the Camp Lejeune water contamination scandal.

Administration sources told the Daily Mail that Loomer’s activism deserved scrutiny, particularly as she continued to criticize the DOJ official overseeing the settlement process.

“She makes it sound like she’s siding with the victims when in fact she’s siding with the lawyers that are trying to take money out of the victims’ pockets,” one source alleged.

Military personnel stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1975 and 1985 faced at least a 20 percent greater risk of developing several cancers than service members stationed elsewhere, according to findings linking the elevated risk to prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals in the base’s water supply.

Those who became ill have accused the Marine Corps of failing to safeguard the health of its personnel. They have also criticized the federal government for taking too long to investigate the contamination.

The scandal triggered extensive litigation after Congress passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act in 2022, opening the door for victims to seek compensation from the federal government.

“The Department of Justice and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward approved 3,780 more settlements for $860 million more than previous administrations combined,” a DOJ spokesperson told the Daily Mail. “We are in lock step with the White House and Department of War on protecting our veterans.”

Keller Postman LLC, which represents roughly 80,000 of the 400,000 people seeking compensation, had sought to retain 40 percent of settlement payments. The DOJ rejected that demand and imposed a cap limiting attorneys’ fees to half that amount.

Officials defending the DOJ’s position are now raising questions about Loomer’s involvement in the dispute.

Loomer denied receiving payment for her advocacy when speaking to the Daily Mail, but acknowledged that she has previously worked with Keller Postman’s lead attorney in the case.

“I have not received any compensation from Keller with regards to this project but I have assisted Ashley Keller with previous projects,” Loomer told the Daily Mail. “I’m friends with Ashley and have known Ashley for two years or so.”

“Have I assisted Ashley Keller on previous projects in the past? Yeah, I have. And Ashley Keller is representing a lot of these Camp Lejeune victims.”

Keller Postman also rejected the suggestion that Loomer is being paid for her work.

“We are not capable of deploying Laura,” Ashley Keller told the Daily Mail.

“She speaks for herself. We of course agree with her wholeheartedly that the administration should take care of those who served, and it’s perplexing to us that they have not. But we will vindicate our clients’ rights in court.”

Keller Postman hired MAGA lawyer John Lauro to sue the DOJ in the summer of 2025, but DOJ didn’t budge, sources say. 

’The DOJ called their bluff and told them to sue,’ a DOJ official told the Daily Mail. ‘They never did.’

Meanwhile, federal judges in the Tar Heel State denied the firm a coveted spot on the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG), which manages settlement talks and entitles members to share in a ‘common benefit fund’ that the court will set aside to pay for their efforts. That reserve could amount to billions of additional dollars.

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Keller Postman has already obtained settlements for about 350 clients, netting $94 million. The lion’s share of cases are pending as the parties seek a ‘global’ settlement.

After Keller Postman struggled to make progress in direct talks with the DOJ, Loomer appeared as a well-timed ally to Postman to exert pressure on social media. 

Loomer made what appeared to be her first statement on the case last fall.

Then in April of this year, the 33-year-old flame-thrower took the fight to Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward – just two months after he took control of the settlement process for DOJ.

She has ratcheted up her verbal attacks in recent weeks, as the first trial in the Lejeune mass tort begins next week.

Loomer went straight for the political jugular, declaring the Trump-appointed official a ‘far left’ Democrat.

Pushing for a quick settlement far greater than the DOJ is offering, she accused Woodward of causing the delay, lowballing offers, belittling victim suffering and sabotaging the president’s desire to aid veterans.

‘President Trump will be in North Carolina for a rally tomorrow, and this needs to be put on his radar immediately,’ Loomer posted to her 1.9 million X followers Monday night.

’The Democrats will say that it was HIS DOJ that screwed over sick US Marines and their families, and Stanley Woodward is handing the Democrats that ammunition on a silver platter,’ she continued.

‘He has got to be one of the WORST hires of the second Trump administration,’ she wrote. ‘But, I tried to warn people.’

In one thread, Loomer shared the horrifying medical sagas of several Keller Postman clients, using specifics sources say appear to be spoon-fed by the firm.

Loomer defended her advocacy in this case, saying she has friends with family members who were victims of the Lejeune contamination and is passionate about getting victims substantial payouts.

She said she’s also invited Keller and some of the Lejeune victims on her podcast to discuss the case. 

‘I’m used to incompetent people who work for the president attacking me when they don’t want to take responsibility for their own actions,’ Loomer said. ‘Senior White House officials even tell me that they think Stanley’s handling of this has been atrocious and that he’s completely fumbled the ball.’

In late September, the federal judges in North Carolina fired what appeared to be a warning shot at ‘outside’ lawyers. 

In court papers, they reminded lawyers in the case that it’s the job of the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group to pursue a settlement and that sanctions can be imposed against any outside lawyers who take actions that ‘impede, undermine, or otherwise have a deleterious effect on the settlement efforts.’

Speaking with the Daily Mail Monday, attorney Ed Bell, lead counsel for the group, offered a defense of Woodward.

‘Everyone knows this is a very sad case, but to specifically target Stanley Woodward and blame him for the delay is simply just not true,’ Bell told us. ’He has done an extraordinary job in working with me and others to get this matter resolved.’

The DOJ has already paid out roughly $1 billion to settle nearly 4,000 claims to date, the vast majority under the Trump administration. 

The DOJ and plaintiffs’ attorneys have until October 30 to come up with a framework for settling all outstanding lawsuits and damage claims.