Outgoing Department of Justice staffers are leaving warnings in their farewell letters that “irreversible damage” is being caused by the president’s demands.
Former employees are leaving notes before walking out that have been obtained by The Justice Connection. Those letters imply a collapse of ethics within the DOJ, with FBI alumni also leaving behind notes on a toxic workplace under the Trump administration, The Daily Beast reported.
Justice Connection Executive Director Stacey Young said staff are “being asked to put loyalty to the president over the Constitution, the rule of law, and their professional ethical obligations.”
The demands of Trump’s second term appear to be too much for some staffers, with walkouts in the face of questionable ethical decisions reported. Three assistant U.S. attorneys who refused to dismiss New York Mayor Eric Adams’ case explained the department had given in to “obedience” over everything.
In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, they wrote, “There is no greater privilege than to work for an institution whose mandate is to do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. We will not abandon this principle to keep our jobs.”
The letter also noted some had “decided that obedience supersedes all else.” Anam Rahman Petit, an immigration judge who said she was terminated without explanation, believes the staffing changes across the DOJ and other parts of the administration are an attempt to “reshape the bench with individuals more likely to deny cases without regard for due process.”
Trial attorney Barbara Schwabauer is another staffer who left office, resigning in August and over changes in department prioritites.
She wrote there was a “hollow leadership that disregards longstanding interpretations of civil rights law, upends Division and Departmental norms, and values perceived loyalty above the meritocratic principles it claims to espouse.”
Messages featured also include one from Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, who wrote, “Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place.”
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