Newly installed Justice Department officials on Wednesday tried to ease concerns within the department’s National Security Division after two of the division’s most experienced prosecutors were removed by the new Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Sources said the move rattled some prosecutors, who are worried about what could come next for the branch that handles some of the nation’s most sensitive matters, including cases tied to global terrorism, domestic extremism, foreign espionage and influence operations, sanctions violations, and leaks of classified information.
According to one source, however, no more personnel changes within the division are imminently planned.
On a division-wide conference call Wednesday morning, the acting head of the National Security Division, Devin DeBacker, praised the two prosecutors who had been removed, thanked them for their service, and gave each of them a chance to say farewell to colleagues, a source familiar with the call said.
One of the prosecutors, George Toscas — who has been serving in the National Security Division since its inception under the George W. Bush administration — had been told a day or two earlier that he had two weeks to either report to a new immigration-related task force focused on addressing “sanctuary cities,” or leave the Justice Department, sources told ABC News. The other prosecutor, Eun Young Choi — who has been with the Justice Department for more than a decade — was given a similar instruction, according to the sources.
As one source recounted to ABC News, both Toscas and Choi grew emotional during Wednesday’s call, with Toscas talking about how honored he was to serve the National Security Division and how committed he was to its mission.
The two prosecutors, who became deputy assistant attorneys general under the Biden administration, were among a slew of career Justice Department officials removed from their posts, including officials in the department’s Criminal Division and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the nation’s immigration courts, current and former Justice Department officials said.
One current official told ABC News that the Justice Department’s “brain trust” of career officials was being banished apparently in favor of those loyal to Trump. Trump has for years accused the Justice Department of unfairly targeting him, saying in his inaugural address on Monday that his new administration will end “the vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department.”
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland and other senior Justice Department officials have consistently denied such claims, insisting their investigations were fair and fact-based.
It’s unclear exactly what drove the Trump administration to identify Toscas, Choi and the other officials for removal. However, Toscas held senior roles within the National Security Division while the Justice Department opened many of the investigations that have for years incensed Trump and his allies, including the initial investigation into alleged ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and the more recent investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving office in 2021.
The Washington Post previously reported that, as part of the classified documents investigation, Toscas had supported the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.
At the same time, while Toscas was among its leadership, the National Security Division helped investigate and file charges against a wide array of alleged foreign spies, terrorists and other criminals, including an Iranian man who was allegedly looking to assassinate Trump.
Toscas has now been assigned to the Justice Department’s newly-created “Office of Sanctuary Cities Enforcement,” which a memo from the new acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, said would seek to identify any local laws and activities “that are inconsistent with” the Trump administration’s immigration initiatives, and then “take legal action” when appropriate.
It’s unclear if Toscas or Choi plan to accept their new assignments. Efforts by ABC News to reach them were unsuccessful.
DeBacker became the acting head of the National Security Division after Trump took office. He served in Trump’s first White House and spent the last months of the administration at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. He joined the National Security Division in early 2022, under the Biden administration, overseeing efforts to review foreign investments, according to his LinkedIn page.
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who represented Trump during his first impeachment, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the next U.S. attorney general. Nominees for some of the other top positions in the Justice Department, including the head of the National Security Division, have yet to be named.
The post After making cuts, new DOJ leadership tries to calm rattled national security team appeared first on ABC News.
