Trump DOJ forgets he was president in 2020

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks to the media as U.S. President Donald Trump listens, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

President Donald Trump's Justice Department produced a report Tuesday in which it claimed that President Joe Biden's DOJ disproportionately targeted anti-choice activists. At least two legal analysts noticed a pretty significant problem with the report, however: Trump was president for some of the cases they used to justify their thesis.

The Atlantic's Quinta Jurecic, who writes about the law, has been sifting through the specifics of the 800-page exhibits in the report and noticed that on page 11, the Justice Department cites three cases of the Biden administration targeting activists on the right. All three are from 2020.

"At [DOJ prosecutor Sanjay] Patel's request or encouragement, [of the National Abortion Federation] NAF provided the Biden DOJ with substantial information that aided in identifying investigation targets and substantiating warrants and prosecutions," the report claims, referencing footnote 53. The email that it cites in that footnote was between Patel and Megan Healy on Nov. 16, 2020/

"NAF alerted Patel to social media posts that made violent threats against clinics and concerns about protest activities that could constitute blockades in violation of the FACE Act," the report also said, citing footnote 55. That refers to an email from Aaron Fleisher at CRT to Patel. CRT is how the DOJ's Civil Rights Division is generally abbreviated.

It was about activist Lauren Handy, who has been arrested a number of times for violating the FACE Act, which prohibits protesters from blocking access to women's clinics. After being arrested in 2022, police discovered five fetuses in her home. She was pardoned by Trump in 2025.

In a Dec. 8, 2020 email, Patel asked NAF's security director: 'I can't recall if you ever shared anything with me (either through an attachment or via Dropbox) about Jonathan Darnell's arrest ... If you did, can you resend that to me?"

All of these contacts came from the Trump administration, not under Biden, as Biden didn't take power until Jan. 20, 2021.

Jurecic needled the report, saying, "In its 'weaponization' report on the FACE Act, DOJ once again struggles to answer the most difficult question of all: who was president in 2020?"

Lawfare's Anna Bower joined in the mockery, writing, "This report on the 'Biden Administration’s Weaponization of the FACE Act' repeatedly cites conduct that occurred…during the first Trump administration."

In her mentions, folks joked about how much Trump blames Biden for what happened under his watch in 2020. Someone posted a photo of MAGA fans storming the U.S. Capitol, calling them "Biden supporters" as a joke. Another explained that electing someone in 2020 and having them sworn in the following year was too complex for some to understand.

Lawfare's Eric Columbus pointed out, "The FACE Act is the basis for DOJ’s dubious prosecution of Don Lemon and dozens more regarding a January protest in a St. Paul, MN church." He's written in detail about why that might be a difficult case to make.

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