Unnamed sources in the Department of Justice (DOJ) are claiming the Trump administration is planning to gut safeguards that prevent politically motivated prosecutions — ironically, a safeguard that was not triggered by the prosecution of Donald Trump when he ran for president in 2024, supporters say.
Reports this weekend by the Washington Post and the Daily Beast allege Attorney General Pam Bondi is considering removing a requirement that an internal department group called the Public Integrity Section (PIN) sign off on any prosecutions of public officials, such as lawmakers and other elected officials.
The Post reported:
Federal prosecutors across the country may soon be able to indict members of Congress without approval from lawyers in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, according to three people familiar with a proposal attorneys in the section learned about last week. Under the proposal, investigators and prosecutors would also not be required to consult with the section’s attorneys during key steps of probes into public officials, altering a long-standing provision in the Justice Department’s manual that outlines how investigations of elected officials should be conducted.
A DOJ spokesman confirmed the proposal and said no final decisions have been made, according to the Post. The newspaper also reported that three people familiar with the proposal spoke on the condition of anonymity because “they fear reprisals.”
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The ongoing controversy about politically motivated prosecutions has continued to unfold as a two-way street since Donald Trump took office.
Bondi is among the many Trump supporters and officials who have repeatedly accused the Biden administration of having weaponized the DOJ against Trump with politically motivated prosecutions in order to prevent him from running in 2024.
Unnamed sources who, along with other career prosecutors, remained quiet when the department and special counsel Jack Smith went after candidate Trump, are now implying the Trump administration is planning take down its enemies with federal prosecutions.
Cutting the Public Integrity Section out of the approval process would give appointed U.S. attorneys more power in bringing public corruption cases, Dan Schwager, a former Public Integrity Section attorney who now works in private practice, told the Post. He explained:
The reason you have the section is exactly what this administration says they want, which is stop politicization. That requires a respect and ability to understand how the laws have been applied in similar situations in the past. The only way to ensure that public officials on both sides of the aisle are treated similarly is to have as much institutional knowledge and experience as possible.
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Ninety-three U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country handle many public corruption investigations and prosecutions in their jurisdictions, the Post article stated. “But, according to the Justice Department manual, which is posted online, the PIN section must still be consulted on key steps in those investigations,” the newspaper wrote.
The Daily Beast reported:
Since Trump took office, PIN has already been hollowed out, as have other DOJ offices. The 30 prosecutors working in the office at the end of the Biden administration have been cut to fewer than five. Several have resigned, been reassigned, or were fired after clashing with Bondi and other Trump appointees.
However, Aaron Reitz, Assistant Attorney General, said the new attorney general is cleaning house. Writing exclusively for Breitbart News last week, he wrote, “In short, AG Bondi assumed office with a monumental task: restoring a justice system rotted with left-wing weaponization and lawfare so that it might instead reflect the very best of American legal values, ideals, and standards. By any objective measure, she’s been extraordinarily successful.”
Controversy over the proposal comes after Trump-appointed acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, earlier this month launched an investigation into a detention center riot that included immigration activists and three Democratic lawmakers and the arrest of Newark’s mayor, as reported by Breitbart News.
Vice President JD Vance also weighed in on the melee and the investigation, saying that being “a member of Congress doesn’t give you a right to obstruct the law.”
Lowell Cauffiel formerly covered national politics for the Detroit News. He’s the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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