Attorney General Pam Bondi fired off a series of memos late Wednesday pledging to “root out corruption” among Justice Department staff and threatening termination for anyone found to fall short in advocacy for President Trump’s policies as “his lawyers.”
The memos from Bondi establish a “Weaponization Working Group” — one that will review the work of the Justice Department over the last four years as well as the work of special counsel Jack Smith.
Additional memos call for ceasing any diversity efforts within the Justice Department and directing its Civil Rights Division to identify opportunities to crack down on DEI practices.
Another seeks to end funding for so-called sanctuary cities that “unlawfully interfere” with enforcement operations.
Bondi said attorneys working on cases do not have the “latitude to substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in this election,” saying that doing so “undermines the constitutional order and deprives the president of the benefit of his lawyers.”
“No one who has acted with a righteous spirit and just intentions has any cause for concern about our efforts to root out corruption and weaponization,” she wrote in a memo reviewed by The Hill.
The memos strike at the heart of concerns raised by Democrats during Bondi’s hearing — that she would view the Justice Department as attorneys for Trump rather than for the citizens of the United States.
The nod to plans to review Smith comes after she refused to say during her hearing whether she would investigate him.
They also echo her defense of Trump as being unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department.
The directive on diversity would also mark a shift for the work of the Civil Rights Division, which traditionally brings cases to protect the rights of various minorities, including those facing discrimination based on their race, gender, or a disability.
Bondi directs the division to focus on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, leaving the door open to doing so at private companies.
“There is no place in these materials for race- or sex-based preferences,” Bondi wrote.
