Exodus of lawyers under Trump weakens department’s capacity in civil rights, national security and other areas

Donald Trump’s weaponization of the US department of justice to focus on retribution against political foes, on fulfilling MAGA goals and on ranting pardons for allies has seen thousands of lawyers depart or be fired and weakened investigations in civil rights, national security and other areas, say ex-prosecutors and legal experts.

Data compiled by the nonpartisan Justice Connection showed that overall DoJ employment has dropped by about 5,500 lawyers and non-lawyers who have left since Trump took office. That included people who were fired, quit or took a deferred resignation program, underscoring a sharp drop in DoJ resources. By contrast, the department last year employed about 10,000 attorneys, according to DoJ data.

In revamping the department, attorney general Pam Bondi and other top officials have ousted many attorneys they deemed as anti-Trump, including about 20 who worked on the prosecutions of the mob who stormed the Capitol on January 6 to try to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden as president.