A top Justice Department official charged by President Donald Trump with routing the capital’s petty criminals has himself been convicted of a minor crime in the past.
At just 33 years old, Aakash Singh became associate deputy attorney general in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, and has since overseen a team of other attorneys in prioritizing misdemeanor cases and charges against protesters, The Guardian reports.
The newspaper adds that during Singh’s fairly short legal career so far, while serving as a North Carolina assistant U.S. attorney back in 2021, police arrested him for driving under the influence. He’s reported to have been actively prosecuting a number of cases at the time, including for fentanyl trafficking.
Singh pleaded guilty to the charges and received a fine of $393 dollars. He was also ordered to surrender his license for 30 days, as well as undertake 24 hours of community service and a substance abuse assessment.
Experts further told The Guardian it’s exceptionally unusual for someone with this sort of record to be promoted to Singh’s current position.
“The DOJ tends to be super harsh about criminal background,” former federal prosecutor Ken White said. “I was told if you ever smoked pot, forget [being hired as an assistant US attorney] and DOJ is even more strict.”
Others took issue with Singh, who only graduated law school in 2017, being promoted to such a prominent position at this relatively early stage in his career.
“Normally these political appointees are chosen not only for political reasons, but because they have credentials that are impeccable, with extensive prosecutorial and managerial experience,” Mark Rasch, another former federal prosecutor, said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Singh and DOJ for comment on this story. A spokesperson for the department told the newspaper that Singh is “a valued member of the Department who plays an important role in ensuring the President’s America First agenda is carried out.”
“That includes standing firmly with law enforcement and making sure our streets are safe from rampant violent crime,” they added. “We are proud of the work he and this Department do every day to restore law and order for the American people.”
Trump has lately declared a “crime emergency” in the capital and launched a federal takeover of the city. At his behest, and under the guidance of newly appointed U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, the DOJ has in turn embarked over the past few weeks on what critics describe as a crackdown disproportionate to the actual level of criminality in the nation’s capital.
This has perhaps most notoriously included attempts to bring felony assault charges against Sean Dunn, a former Justice Department employee who threw a hoagie at Customs and Border Protection officers last month.
“What about the hypocrisy?” Rasch said. “Why did someone who threw a sandwich get fired [from the justice department], while someone convicted of drunk driving get promoted?”
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