{"id":107875,"date":"2025-02-06T16:01:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T00:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/06\/justice-department-rebrands-as-trumps-personal-law-firm\/"},"modified":"2025-02-06T16:01:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T00:01:54","slug":"justice-department-rebrands-as-trumps-personal-law-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/06\/justice-department-rebrands-as-trumps-personal-law-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Department Rebrands As Trump\u2019s Personal Law Firm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
(Photo by Yuki Iwamura-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, they made it official: The Justice Department no longer serves the United States, it serves Donald Trump personally<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Buried in new Attorney General Pam Bondi\u2019s memo dump between the empty platitudes about \u201cjustice\u201d and the barely concealed threats against career prosecutors is a single phrase marking a tectonic shift in the DOJ\u2019s purpose. Bondi advises the DOJ that they cannot deprive \u201cthe President of the benefit of his lawyers\u201d (memo available here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What the Nixon is this?<\/p>\n

While this step is brazen, it\u2019s not necessarily unexpected. At this point, everyone running the DOJ actually are<\/em> Trump\u2019s personal lawyers. Emil Bove and Todd Blanche will serve as top deputies at the DOJ after working as Trump\u2019s personal defense attorneys. Trump\u2019s appellate lawyer John Sauer gets to be Solicitor General and file weekly Supreme Court briefs in cases like Trump v. People Who Hurt His Feelings<\/em>. And Bondi herself represented Trump in his first impeachment \u2014 a gig she got after conveniently dropping an investigation into Trump University<\/em> after receiving a sizable donation from\u2026 oh, you don\u2019t even need me to finish that sentence, do you?<\/p>\n

At this point, it would be more honest to slap a \u201cTrump Legal Services\u201d sign on the DOJ building and start running TV ads promising to \u201cMake Your Indictments Disappear!\u201d Now that Cellino & Barnes lost its iconic phone number<\/a>, maybe the DOJ could take it. If there\u2019s any administration eager to lean into \u201c88\u201d iconography, it\u2019s the Musk\/Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Even after stacking the DOJ with personal cronies, calling them \u201chis lawyers\u201d<\/em> out loud delivers a Constitutional Law jump scare. The Department of Justice generally engages in a subtle balancing act. The Attorney General serves at the pleasure of the President, but the department itself speaks for the government as a whole. This distinction usually manifests as a limited or not-so-limited independence. It\u2019s why Merrick Garland\u2019s DOJ spent half its time trying to put Hunter Biden in jail based on charges that barely merit probation against average citizens. Even the most aggressive executives try to pay lip service to the idea that Justice enjoys independence from the personal whims of the White House.<\/p>\n

This memo shatters that illusion. And while the most stunning admission comes toward the end, Bondi lays the groundwork for this shift earlier in the memo:<\/p>\n

\n

It is the job of an attorney privileged to serve in the Department of Justice to zealously defend the interests of the United States. Those interests, and the overall policy of the United States, are set by the Nation\u2019s Chief Executive, who is vested by the Constitution with all \u201c[E]xecutive Power.\u201d More broadly, attorneys are expected to zealously advance, protect, and defend their client\u2019s interests. Department of Justice attorneys have signed up for a job that requires zealously advocating for the United States.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Without the second sentence, that paragraph is a standard high school civics course description of the DOJ. But, as any successful high school civics student knows, \u201cthe overall policy of the United States\u201d is not, in fact \u201cset by the Nation\u2019s Chief Executive.\u201d The \u201cexecutive power\u201d means enforcing laws passed by Congress, not making up new ones. Orwellian is a term that gets overused, usually to suggest some a 1984<\/em>-style omnipowerful dictatorial regime. This is more Orwellian as in a bunch of pigs clumsily rewriting rules as they go along.<\/p>\n

\n

The responsibilities of Department of Justice attorneys include not only aggressively enforcing criminal and civil laws enacted by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions against legal challenges on behalf of the United States. The discretion afforded Department attorneys entrusted with those responsibilities does not include latitude to substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, but it\u2019s not THE election. There are a lot of elections involved in enforcing the law. The 2024 election does not \u2014 or at least should not \u2014 relieve a DOJ lawyer from enforcing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Laws do not cease to exist until the legislature passes a new one. Bondi\u2019s already adding a porcine touch to the concept of prosecutorial discretion that all laws are equal but some are more equal than others.<\/p>\n

Apparently the personal judgments that are on the outs includes stuff like \u201cthe Civil Rights Act<\/a>\u201d or \u201claws against foreign bribes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, of course, one big policy \u201cthat prevailed in the election\u201d that DOJ staff are expected to wholeheartedly embrace is a holy crusade against anyone who thinks former presidents shouldn\u2019t be able to sell nuclear secrets to hostile foreign governments. After years of characterizing Trump\u2019s theft of classified materials and, much more importantly, repeated refusal to turn them over once asked about it as the \u201cweaponization\u201d of the Justice Department, Bondi has breezily slid the Department into weaponizing the Justice Department<\/a>. Because another memo pumped out by Bondi sets the stage to punish those who prosecuted Trump cases and to chill any future effort if\/when Trump or his allies commit future crimes.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve finally found the outer limit of qualified immunity. It\u2019s not literally setting a man on fire<\/a>, it\u2019s Trump\u2019s feelings.<\/p>\n

Which is weird because a couple weeks ago, Bondi couldn\u2019t even begin to answer a question about special counsel investigations<\/a> and now she has very detailed and official thoughts about it. If one didn\u2019t know any better, it\u2019s almost like she openly lied to the U.S. Senate!<\/p>\n

Would Pam Bondi try to weaponize the legal system? She weaponized the legal system against hurricane victims over their pet dog<\/a>, she\u2019s more than capable of turning DOJ action into political ordnance.<\/p>\n

The nation\u2019s top law enforcement agency has been converted into a legal defense team for a single individual, run by people who literally represented him in court. It\u2019s a bit of an (un)ethical trend<\/a> with this department these days. Nixon sparked a constitutional crisis when he started a firing spree until someone at DOJ would do his bidding. Trump avoided Nixon\u2019s mistake by making sure he didn\u2019t install anyone in the job with enough backbone to refuse him.<\/p>\n

So when Bondi talks about \u201chis lawyers,\u201d believe her. Because this Justice Department isn\u2019t for America anymore. It\u2019s for him<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(Memo available on the next page<\/a>\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Justice Department Rebrands As Trump\u2019s Personal Law Firm<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Photo by Yuki Iwamura-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, they made it official: The Justice Department no longer serves the United States, it serves Donald Trump personally<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Buried in new Attorney General Pam Bondi\u2019s memo dump between the empty platitudes about \u201cjustice\u201d and the barely concealed threats against career prosecutors is a single phrase marking a tectonic shift in the DOJ\u2019s purpose. Bondi advises the DOJ that they cannot deprive \u201cthe President of the benefit of his lawyers\u201d (memo available here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What the Nixon is this?<\/p>\n

While this step is brazen, it\u2019s not necessarily unexpected. At this point, everyone running the DOJ actually are<\/em> Trump\u2019s personal lawyers. Emil Bove and Todd Blanche will serve as top deputies at the DOJ after working as Trump\u2019s personal defense attorneys. Trump\u2019s appellate lawyer John Sauer gets to be Solicitor General and file weekly Supreme Court briefs in cases like Trump v. People Who Hurt His Feelings<\/em>. And Bondi herself represented Trump in his first impeachment \u2014 a gig she got after conveniently dropping an investigation into Trump University<\/em> after receiving a sizable donation from\u2026 oh, you don\u2019t even need me to finish that sentence, do you?<\/p>\n

At this point, it would be more honest to slap a \u201cTrump Legal Services\u201d sign on the DOJ building and start running TV ads promising to \u201cMake Your Indictments Disappear!\u201d Now that Cellino & Barnes lost its iconic phone number<\/a>, maybe the DOJ could take it. If there\u2019s any administration eager to lean into \u201c88\u201d iconography, it\u2019s the Musk\/Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Even after stacking the DOJ with personal cronies, calling them \u201chis lawyers\u201d<\/em> out loud delivers a Constitutional Law jump scare. The Department of Justice generally engages in a subtle balancing act. The Attorney General serves at the pleasure of the President, but the department itself speaks for the government as a whole. This distinction usually manifests as a limited or not-so-limited independence. It\u2019s why Merrick Garland\u2019s DOJ spent half its time trying to put Hunter Biden in jail based on charges that barely merit probation against average citizens. Even the most aggressive executives try to pay lip service to the idea that Justice enjoys independence from the personal whims of the White House.<\/p>\n

This memo shatters that illusion. And while the most stunning admission comes toward the end, Bondi lays the groundwork for this shift earlier in the memo:<\/p>\n

\n

It is the job of an attorney privileged to serve in the Department of Justice to zealously defend the interests of the United States. Those interests, and the overall policy of the United States, are set by the Nation\u2019s Chief Executive, who is vested by the Constitution with all \u201c[E]xecutive Power.\u201d More broadly, attorneys are expected to zealously advance, protect, and defend their client\u2019s interests. Department of Justice attorneys have signed up for a job that requires zealously advocating for the United States.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Without the second sentence, that paragraph is a standard high school civics course description of the DOJ. But, as any successful high school civics student knows, \u201cthe overall policy of the United States\u201d is not, in fact \u201cset by the Nation\u2019s Chief Executive.\u201d The \u201cexecutive power\u201d means enforcing laws passed by Congress, not making up new ones. Orwellian is a term that gets overused, usually to suggest some a 1984<\/em>-style omnipowerful dictatorial regime. This is more Orwellian as in a bunch of pigs clumsily rewriting rules as they go along.<\/p>\n

\n

The responsibilities of Department of Justice attorneys include not only aggressively enforcing criminal and civil laws enacted by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions against legal challenges on behalf of the United States. The discretion afforded Department attorneys entrusted with those responsibilities does not include latitude to substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, but it\u2019s not THE election. There are a lot of elections involved in enforcing the law. The 2024 election does not \u2014 or at least should not \u2014 relieve a DOJ lawyer from enforcing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Laws do not cease to exist until the legislature passes a new one. Bondi\u2019s already adding a porcine touch to the concept of prosecutorial discretion that all laws are equal but some are more equal than others.<\/p>\n

Apparently the personal judgments that are on the outs includes stuff like \u201cthe Civil Rights Act<\/a>\u201d or \u201claws against foreign bribes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, of course, one big policy \u201cthat prevailed in the election\u201d that DOJ staff are expected to wholeheartedly embrace is a holy crusade against anyone who thinks former presidents shouldn\u2019t be able to sell nuclear secrets to hostile foreign governments. After years of characterizing Trump\u2019s theft of classified materials and, much more importantly, repeated refusal to turn them over once asked about it as the \u201cweaponization\u201d of the Justice Department, Bondi has breezily slid the Department into weaponizing the Justice Department<\/a>. Because another memo pumped out by Bondi sets the stage to punish those who prosecuted Trump cases and to chill any future effort if\/when Trump or his allies commit future crimes.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve finally found the outer limit of qualified immunity. It\u2019s not literally setting a man on fire<\/a>, it\u2019s Trump\u2019s feelings.<\/p>\n

Which is weird because a couple weeks ago, Bondi couldn\u2019t even begin to answer a question about special counsel investigations<\/a> and now she has very detailed and official thoughts about it. If one didn\u2019t know any better, it\u2019s almost like she openly lied to the U.S. Senate!<\/p>\n

Would Pam Bondi try to weaponize the legal system? She weaponized the legal system against hurricane victims over their pet dog<\/a>, she\u2019s more than capable of turning DOJ action into political ordnance.<\/p>\n

The nation\u2019s top law enforcement agency has been converted into a legal defense team for a single individual, run by people who literally represented him in court. It\u2019s a bit of an (un)ethical trend<\/a> with this department these days. Nixon sparked a constitutional crisis when he started a firing spree until someone at DOJ would do his bidding. Trump avoided Nixon\u2019s mistake by making sure he didn\u2019t install anyone in the job with enough backbone to refuse him.<\/p>\n

So when Bondi talks about \u201chis lawyers,\u201d believe her. Because this Justice Department isn\u2019t for America anymore. It\u2019s for him<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(Memo available on the next page<\/a>\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/strong> 2<\/a>Next \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo by Yuki Iwamura-Pool\/Getty Images) Well, they made it official: The Justice Department no longer serves the United States, it serves Donald Trump personally. Buried in new Attorney General Pam Bondi\u2019s memo dump between the empty platitudes about \u201cjustice\u201d and the barely concealed threats against career prosecutors is a single phrase marking a tectonic shift […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":107841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Headshot-300x200-jjZGhB.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}