By Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive on Wednesday, her first day in office, that could allow Justice Department lawyers to be fired if they refuse to advance legal arguments on behalf of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The memo states that “any Justice Department attorney who declines to sign a brief, refuses to advance good-faith arguments on behalf of the Trump administration, or otherwise delays or impedes the Justice Department’s mission will be subject to discipline and potentially termination.”
Trump appointees have moved quickly to assert control over the Justice Department, firing or reassigning dozens of career lawyers, and aligning it with Trump’s hardline immigration policies.
Bondi also plans to launch an effort to review criminal and civil cases brought against Trump while he was out of office. The inquiry, known as the “Weaponization Working Group,” will also examine the prosecution of Trump supporters who played a role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and other Justice Department actions condemned by Republicans during President Joe Biden’s administration.
Bondi also directed the department to scale down its enforcement of U.S. foreign influence laws that have been used more aggressively in recent years, including against at least three Trump associates.
The department will only bring criminal cases when conduct resembles “more traditional espionage” and will focus instead on civil enforcement, according to the directive.
The laws cover a wide range of influence activity, including a requirement that those lobbying on behalf of foreign governments register as foreign agents.
Bondi, a loyal Trump defender, was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday night and sworn in at the White House on Wednesday.
The Justice Department is responsible for defending administration policies and government officials against legal challenges. Department lawyers are already defending Trump executive orders against scores of lawsuits.
Trump allies have complained that career lawyers stymied his agenda in the first term, in some cases refusing to follow through on legal actions they felt were unjustified.
One Trump ally, Mark Paoletta, posted on social media that career lawyers resisted filing a lawsuit over admissions practices at Yale University during Trump’s first term. Sally Yates, a senior department official appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, refused to defend Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries in 2017.
Justice Department lawyers do not have “latitude to substitute their personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election,” Bondi’s memo states.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Alistair Bell)
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