WASHINGTON (AP) — Pam Bondi claimed during her Senate confirmation hearing that her Justice Department would not engage in political maneuvering as attorney general.
However, since the Trump administration took control of the department, a series of actions have sparked worries that it is doing just that.
High-ranking officials have requested the identities of numerous FBI agents involved in the Capitol riot investigation, sued a state attorney general who secured a significant fraud verdict against Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election, and directed the dismissal of a criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, alleging that the charges hindered the Democrat’s ability to cooperate with the Republican administration in combating illegal immigration.
Even for a department that has faced numerous scandals, these actions have caused unrest not seen in decades, challenged its autonomy, and shook the core principles of an institution that has long emphasized facts, evidence, and the law. As firings and resignations escalate, questions arise about whether a president who has criticized his own Justice Department during his first term can successfully manipulate it in his second term.
“We are witnessing a brutal determination from acting department leadership and the attorney general to essentially enforce compliance among the workforce with the administration’s demands, even when it’s clear” that certain decisions appear “to corrupt the criminal justice system,” remarked retired federal prosecutor David Laufman, who held senior positions across both Democratic and Republican administrations.
He made these comments shortly after Manhattan’s chief federal prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, resigned in protest following a directive from Emil Bove, the Justice Department’s acting second-in-command, to dismiss the case against Adams.
In a letter leading to her resignation, Sassoon accused the department of participating in a “quid pro quo” — dropping the case to secure Adams’ cooperation with Trump’s immigration agenda. While Adams is a Democrat, he had been positioning himself as willing to support the administration’s efforts in the largest city in America, including a private meeting with Trump at his Florida estate just days before the Republican took office.
Several senior officials from the Justice Department’s public integrity section, responsible for prosecuting corruption, also joined Sassoon in their resignations.
On Friday, a prosecutor involved in the Adams case, Hagan Scotten, became at least the seventh person to resign, informing Bove in a letter that it would require a “fool” or a “coward” to comply with his order to dismiss the charges. (On Friday night, Bove and department lawyers in Washington eventually filed the necessary paperwork to close the case).
While the situations differ significantly, the wave of resignations recalls the 1973 “Saturday Night Massacre”, when multiple Justice Department leaders chose to resign rather than follow President Richard Nixon’s order to dismiss the Watergate special prosecutor.
“Even if further resignations do not occur, a strong message has been conveyed regarding the department’s goals and expectations,” said Alberto Gonzales, who served as attorney general under Republican President George W. Bush until his resignation in 2007 amid the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys.
“The mission of the department is to ensure that our laws are enforced and that those who engage in criminal activities face prosecution and punishment,” Gonzales stated. It may appear to some that “if you have a relationship with the White House, there may be no repercussions for actions that ordinary Americans would be penalized for.”
Bove, a former New York federal prosecutor who represented Trump in various criminal cases, did not specifically address the legal validity of the charges against Adams. He referenced political motivations, including the timing of the charges just months before Adams’ anticipated reelection campaign and the challenges the case posed for the mayor’s ability to combat illegal immigration and violent crime.
In a letter to Sassoon, Bove mentioned that case prosecutors would face internal scrutiny.
Bondi defended the decision to drop the case, stating in a Fox News interview that Adams was targeted for his criticism of the Biden administration’s immigration policies. Her chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, remarked that prosecutors who defied the dismissal order “have no place at DOJ.”
“The decision to dismiss the indictment against Eric Adams exemplifies that this DOJ will refocus on its fundamental role of prosecuting dangerous criminals rather than engaging in politically motivated witch hunts,” Mizelle said in a statement that baselessly accused prosecutors of having “disordered and ulterior motives.”
At the White House on Friday, Trump stated he was “not involved” in the Adams case and claimed to know “nothing” about it.
The situation in New York follows a different clash between Bove and acting FBI leaders regarding his demand for a roster of agents who participated in the Capitol riot investigations to assess whether any personnel actions were warranted.
This request appeared to some as a possible precursor to mass firings but aligned with Trump’s outrage over those criminal cases, which he dismissed with blanket pardons shortly after his inauguration.
Bove characterized the acting FBI director’s refusal to comply with his order as an act of “insubordination” and insisted that agents who “merely followed” orders would not lose their jobs, but those who acted with “partisan intent” could face consequences.
During Trump’s interims between presidential terms, he and his allies argued that the Justice Department had been “weaponized” against him and conservatives, citing various indictments that were later dismissed after Trump reclaimed the presidency in November.
On her inaugural day in office, Bondi introduced a “Weaponization Working Group,” tasked with examining the prosecutors behind criminal and civil cases against Trump and investigating the January 6 prosecutions. She noted in a memo that the department “must take immediate and overdue action to reclaim integrity and credibility” and ensure that personnel are “ready and willing” to enforce the president’s agenda.
Notably, the group was not assigned to investigate other politically sensitive issues more favorable to Trump, such as a special counsel’s inquiry into Democratic President Joe Biden’s handling of classified information or the prosecution of Biden’s son Hunter, who faced conviction for gun and tax charges before receiving a pardon from his father in December.
Among the prosecutors identified by the working group was special counsel Jack Smith, who initiated two criminal cases against Trump, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose civil fraud lawsuit against Trump culminated in a nearly $500 million judgment.
A frequent target of Trump’s criticism, James was mentioned again shortly after Bondi’s first news conference where she announced a lawsuit against the state of New York concerning a law that permits individuals possibly without legal status in the U.S. to obtain a driver’s license. Bondi initially stated that she had “filed charges” against James and Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, later clarifying that she meant a lawsuit.
Further departures — and additional turmoil — may be on the horizon.
“The risk of a weakening Justice Department and FBI is now a real and alarming possibility,” cautioned Laufman, the retired prosecutor. “The implications of where this might lead are currently uncertain.”
