It appears the Justice Department is taking steps to hush up a recently hired cadre of MAGA supporters who have spent a good deal of their time in new roles dissing Democrats online.
Officials with the department set new limits on what officials can post on their social media accounts Monday.
The directive was sent via email and prohibited DOJ staff from posting as usual on their government accounts, just as a slew of new appointees began publicly slamming critics of the president.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was the driving force behind the new policy, and Reuters reported that he was fed up with Trump-backing political appointees dissing their rivals on social media.
Employees now cannot use any social platforms “in a way that damages the efficiency of the department,” tightening the restrictions that protect the department’s privacy and impartiality.
Before the new order, the DOJ prohibited employees from discussing non-public investigations or making politically charged statements that could put the department’s impartiality in question. Monday’s order has a much broader reach.
Some civil rights advocates have expressed concern for the social media crackdown, suggesting that it could suffocate free speech.
The clampdown comes as new Trump appointees spend inordinate amounts of time roasting their Democratic adversaries.
The policy forbids employees from “injecting their political views into the work they perform” or making comments “in reckless disregard for the truth” about judges or any other person the DOJ engages with.
DOJ staff are also banned from posting anything that might sway a proceeding or “heighten the condemnation of an accused.”
There are several new DOJ employees that have not been shy about their MAGA loyalty.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted a false claim on X on March 29, telling her followers that law enforcement arrested a “top MS-13 national leader” when in reality investigators had only found some signs of MS-13 association.
The department has since moved to drop the charges and deport the 24-year-old suspect.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court sides with the Trump Administration on the Alien Enemies Act. Tonight’s decision is a landmark victory for the rule of law. An activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trump’s authority to conduct…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) April 7, 2025
She frequently calls out “activist” judges, targeting the federal jurists who oppose Trump’s policies.
Leo Terrell, a senior counsel in the Civil Rights Division and leader of the DOJ’s antisemitism task force, reposted remarks from a white nationalist that said Trump could “revoke someone’s Jew card.”
Terrell posts almost daily on X about his support of Trump, including a repeated post that reads: “President Trump: 77 million voters and I continue to support you! #GodBlessAmerica #GodBlessPresidentTrump.”
He posted the same message again early Wednesday.
President Trump: 77 million voters and I continue to support you! #GodBlessAmerica #GodBlessPresidentTrump
— LeoTerrell (@TheLeoTerrell) April 15, 2025
He also regularly reposts Democrat-slamming videos from far-right commentator Charlie Kirk.
On Monday Terrell wrote: “Democrats are jealous of President Trump! Moreover, they are extremely jealous of Trump’s popularity with the American people!”
Aaron Reitz, the DOJ’s head of the Office of Legal Policy, on April 8 accused “Dem-appointed judges” of siding with gangs to interfere with Trump’s “authority to conduct foreign policy.”
Helpful thread here. This is the real constitutional crisis: Dems & blue states sue Trump Admin before hand-selected Dem-appointed judges, who then knowingly & willfully overstep Art III boundaries to usurp Art I & II powers, thereby thwarting the will of the American People. https://t.co/Dnvxfzkjvk
— Aaron Reitz (@aaron_reitz) April 7, 2025
Reitz also regularly posts White House “memes” that depict border patrol officers deporting individuals.
“Illegal alien and MS-13 monster from El Salvador burrows into American soil. He rightfully gets deported. Delusional Dems clutch pearls, saying *ackchyually* he’s Dad of the Year, and media gins up sympathy campaign,” he wrote on April 6, adding: “Americans are happy to see AG Bondi clean out deep-state lawyers and bring discipline to the ranks of DOJ.”
Civil rights advocates like former DOJ lawyer Stacey Young are worried about the new orders.
She told Reuters: “The new policy represents another unwarranted attack on DOJ employees – one that stifles their free speech in their private lives and creates new ways for the administration to oust career public servants who don’t toe the party line.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Trump administration for comment.
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