President Trump’s political appointees have embarked on an unapologetic, strong-arm effort to impose their will on the Justice Department, seeking to justify their actions as the reversal of the “politicization” of federal law enforcement under their Biden-era predecessors. The campaign by Emil Bove III — Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer who is the department’s acting No. 2 official — is playing out through a series of moves that underscore Trump’s intention to bend the traditionally nonpartisan career staff in federal law enforcement to suit his ends, says the New York Times. That strategy has precipitated a crisis that is an early test of how resilient the norms of the criminal justice system will prove to be against the pressures by a retribution-minded president and his appointees. On Thursday, the interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney, Danielle Sassoon, resigned rather than approve Bove’s command to dismiss the corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams. Sassoon is a former clerk for conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and had been appointed by Trump’s team.
Dropping the charges “for reasons having nothing to do with the strength of the case” went against the “duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor,” she wrote to Bove explaining her decision. Bove tried a procedural end-around, asking DOJ officials take over the case, then have someone on their staff sign the dismissal. Instead, five prosecutors in the criminal division and public integrity unit also quit, leaving their colleagues to discuss their options, expressing their hope that they would not be called upon to take actions that would end with their resignation or termination. The consequences of the confrontation extend far beyond the fate of Adams. It has set up a protracted and damaging battle over the integrity, independence and direction of a department that Trump views like a piece of captured battlefield artillery he is now able to turn against his attackers. Bove is imposing a political loyalty test on prosecutors, demanding they comply with his requests or get out. “It’s a symptom of a bigger problem — how are we going to do this for four more years, having to choose whether to do something unethical or be fired?” said a current Justice Department official. “Everyone has to jump ship or be thrown overboard.”
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