Last Updated on January 2, 2025
As President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration approaches, federal prosecutors who have railroaded January 6 defendants, the outgoing president and his associates over the past 4 years are running scared.
Many of the attorneys representing Joe Biden’s Department of Justice are looking “for Protection—and the Exits” while law firms are seeing an “unprecedented flood of résumés from department lawyers” scurrying to find employment in the private sector, Wall Street Journal reports:
Justice Department lawyers who have angered President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are facing tough decisions about whether to stay in government—and how to best protect themselves from threats of retribution after Inauguration Day,” the publication notes.
Dozens of prosecutors and agents have worked on cases that potentially make them vulnerable, such as special counsel investigations of Trump, prosecutions of hundreds of his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and contempt-of-Congress cases that sent top Trump associates Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro to prison this year.
Their concerns are part of a broader wave of uncertainty that has swept through the Justice Department since Trump’s re-election, as he and his appointees openly float plans to fire career employees and bring the department more closely under presidential control.
Some department lawyers on the fence about leaving have sought counsel from Attorney General Merrick Garland and other senior officials, who have encouraged them to stay on for continuity of government and for their expertise, people familiar with the discussions said.
Law firms say they have seen an unprecedented flood of résumés from department lawyers looking for the exits. While presidential transitions always upend the ranks of political appointees, “now, it’s seeping into a lot of career people,” said Steve Nelson, a legal recruiter who helps lawyers make the jump from government into the private sector.
The incoming administration including Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, and of course President-elect Donald Trump were also victims of these prosecutions in addition to the nearly 1600 January 6 defendants and their families.
While former Trump advisor Steve Bannon served a 4-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress, after he ignored a subpoena from the January 6 House Select Committee, Merrick Garland also was subpoenaed from Congress and never faced prosecution or jail time.
“Everyone I’ve talked to, mostly lawyers, are losing their minds,” a DOJ attorney, who was granted anonymity to speak to the press about the current climate in the government agency following Trump’s historic victory, told Politico. “The fear is that career leadership and career employees everywhere are either going to leave or they’re going to be driven out.”
On Monday, Special Counsel Jack Smith withdrew his appeal of the lawfare classified documents case against Trump and handed it over to the US Attorney’s Office in Florida.
Attorneys on the case including Assistant Special Counsel James Pearce, Jay Braitt, David Harbach, John Pellettieri, and Cecil VanDevender submitted a notice to withdraw on Monday.
JUST IN: The special counsel’s office has handed off the remnants of its Trump case in Florida to the US attorney’s office. pic.twitter.com/fM8JaT0VwD
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 30, 2024
Smith reportedly plans to resign before Trump takes office on January 20, 2025. but will finish his work and step down along with his team to avoid being fired by Trump, who has promised to remove Smith “within two seconds” of taking office.
