If Department of Justice leaders are wondering why their offices are hollowing out from within, the New York Times suggests they need look no further than their recruitment ads.
“Chad Mizelle, a former chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, hung an online help wanted sign for federal prosecutors last weekend that perhaps explained why so many valuable Justice Department staff members have left, and why so few candidates want in,” the Times reports.
“If you are a lawyer, are interested in being an AUSA, and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda, DM me,” posted Mizelle, who the Times describes as “a fierce Trump supporter who remains close with Justice Department leaders and senior officials in the West Wing.”
But here’s the problem, according to the Times: Assistant U.S. attorneys are not traditionally asked to “prove political or ideological fealty” in the application process.
Mizelle told the Post that: “The president is entitled to prosecutors who will actually pursue his agenda.” But reactions under his X post from litigators proffered a different opinion.
“The first prosecution I would bring: a 34-time convicted felon and sex offender, currently stealing money from the government and running an extortion racket,” wrote attorney Jason P. Gottlieb beneath Mizelle’s X post.
“That is not the job of a prosecutor ‘support President Trump,’” said another commenter claiming to be an attorney. “So why are you following me? The answer is ‘no.’ I uphold the duty I was sworn to do and that is to the Constitution and not any president.”
“Lmao things must be going great because the Trump administration is hiring lawyers via Twitter,” said another critic claiming to be a New York litigator.
But Mizelle’s post reflects “the prevailing sentiment inside the department — that Mr. Trump has the right to hire only those willing to execute his agenda. It also highlighted the dynamic that appears to be contributing to the very staffing shortages Mr. Mizelle tried to address,” the Times said. Applications for vacant slots in U.S. attorneys’ offices, which were once staunchly apolitical questionnaires, now often include requirements to weigh in on Trump’s policies.
“How would you help advance the president’s executive orders and policy priorities in this role?” read one of the queries on an application for a job in the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, whose ranks have drastically thinned after the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis triggered a prosecutor stampede for exits.
“Identify one or two relevant executive orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired,” reads another.
And while DOJ officials pursue their politically aligned attorneys — who pledge to be nonbiased as part of their legal license — department prosecutors are still quitting at a frantic pace in offices across the nation, pushing the DOJ further to collapse.
The Times reports “About a dozen prosecutors have quit in recent weeks” after top department officials meddled in their investigations, and civil division lawyers are buckling “under a barrage of emergency petitions filed by newly detained immigrants seeking to be released from custody,” according to people familiar with the matter.
The situation even prompted one attorney on loan from the Department of Homeland Security to recently tell a Minneapolis judge in open court: “The system sucks. This job sucks.”
“She was quickly plucked from her post. But her sentiment simply reflected the reality of the situation, and has been openly acknowledged by Trump appointees,” the Times reports.