'Assault on the public servants': Ex-DOJ officials calls out 'destruction' of department

President Donald Trump addressing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 14, 2025 (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian/Flickr)

A group of 282 former Justice Department (DOJ) officials has issued a warning accusing President Donald Trump of systematically eroding the core functions and independence of the DOJ.

In an open letter, the officials — none of whom are political appointees — claim the Department is under attack, MSNBC reported Monday.

“We believe it’s our duty to sound the alarm about this administration’s degradation of DOJ’s vital work, and its assault on the public servants who do it,” the letter reads, per the report.

The signatories are said to include a wide cross-section of long-serving career employees including prosecutors, FBI agents, analysts, immigration judges, civil rights lawyers and more.

Many of those who were forced out, they say, were involved in investigations relating to Jan. 6, 2021 riots, or inquiries into Trump himself. Others resigned quietly, unwilling to be complicit. All were nonpartisan career civil servants, not political appointees, per the report.

The letter accuses the current DOJ leadership of violating constitutional norms and threatening retaliation against employees who don’t align with the president’s wishes.

Some of the actions they point to include demotions, forced reassignments, firings, and pressure to abandon investigations. These moves, they argue, are draining the department of its institutional memory and eroding its ability to recruit and retain capable, independent staff.

“We call on all Americans — whose safety, prosperity, and rights depend on a strong DOJ – to speak out against its destruction,” they wrote.

The former officials argued the scale and pace of the changes are historically significant, comparable only to past eras of DOJ turmoil, such as under Richard Nixon.

They alleged that the current wave of removals and dismissals goes further, affecting not just high-profile figures or political appointees but deeply experienced nonpartisan staff.

“This administration’s lies about the ‘deep state’ and exaggerations about government inefficiency have eroded the respect our country once held for public servants,” the letter says.

“Demonizing, firing, demoting, involuntarily transferring,and directing employees to violate their ethical duties has already caused an exodus of over 5,000 of us — draining the Department of priceless institutional knowledge and expertise and impairing its historical success in recruiting top talent.”

They warn the consequences may stretch well into the future, saying, “We may feel the effects of this for generations.”

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