\u201cDangerous.\u201d \u201cHorrifying.\u201d A federal judge is characterizing statements made by the DOJ with this language. That\u2019s what it is like to be an AUSA in the year of our lord 2026. No wonder they\u2019re taking to social media<\/a> to recruit saps like fraudulent telemarketers. <\/p>\n At present, the government has stripped the site of all substantive discussion of the enslaved people who lived there, leaving only their names \u2014 Austin, Paris, Hercules, Christopher Sheels, Richmond, Giles, Oney Judge, Moll, and Joe \u2014 engraved into a cement wall. Plaintiffs are asking the court to order the exhibit restored, and Judge Rufe instructed DOJ to ensure that the remaining materials are not damaged any further, and she intends to personally inspect the removed materials. She also indicated she intends to rule swiftly, particularly with the nation\u2019s 250th birthday celebration looming and a surge of visitors expected at Independence Mall.<\/p>\n The post \u2018That Is A Dangerous Statement\u2019: Federal Judge Eviscerates DOJ Over Slavery Exhibit Takedown<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Trump administration is trying to memory-hole slavery, and a federal judge is running out of patience with their shenanigans. <\/p>\n At a hearing last week over the Trump administration\u2019s decision to rip out materials discussing slavery at George Washington\u2019s former Philadelphia residence Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe \u2014 a George W. Bush appointee! \u2014 delivered a sharp rebuke to the DOJ lawyers defending the government\u2019s actions. The exhibit in question, located on Independence Mall, was created by the City of Philadelphia in partnership with the National Park Service and tells the story of the nine enslaved people who lived and labored in Washington\u2019s home. Earlier this year, federal workers reportedly took a crowbar to the plaques, citing President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order purporting to \u201crestore truth and sanity to American history.\u201d But let\u2019s be so fucking for real right now, it\u2019s a literal whitewashing of it.<\/p>\n Judge Rufe was not impressed. \u201cYou can\u2019t erase history once you\u2019ve learned it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t work that way.\u201d That theme only sharpened as the hearing went on. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory in den Berken attempted to defend the removals by gesturing vaguely at disagreement and discretion. \u201cAlthough many people feel strongly about this one way, other people may disagree or feel strongly another way,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cUltimately, the government gets to choose the message it wants to convey.\u201d<\/p>\n Danger, Will Robinson. Though appearing before a Republican-appointed judge, it does NOT mean they\u2019re cool with the current administration\u2019s we-get-to-rewrite-history plan. Judge Rufe cut off the AUSA, according to reports<\/a>, saying, \u201cThat is a dangerous statement you are making. It is horrifying to listen to,\u201d she said. \u201cIt changes on the whims of someone in charge? I\u2019m sorry, that is not what we elected anybody for.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDangerous.\u201d \u201cHorrifying.\u201d A federal judge is characterizing statements made by the DOJ with this language. That\u2019s what it is like to be an AUSA in the year of our lord 2026. No wonder they\u2019re taking to social media<\/a> to recruit saps like fraudulent telemarketers. <\/p>\n At present, the government has stripped the site of all substantive discussion of the enslaved people who lived there, leaving only their names \u2014 Austin, Paris, Hercules, Christopher Sheels, Richmond, Giles, Oney Judge, Moll, and Joe \u2014 engraved into a cement wall. Plaintiffs are asking the court to order the exhibit restored, and Judge Rufe instructed DOJ to ensure that the remaining materials are not damaged any further, and she intends to personally inspect the removed materials. She also indicated she intends to rule swiftly, particularly with the nation\u2019s 250th birthday celebration looming and a surge of visitors expected at Independence Mall.<\/p>\n The Trump administration is trying to memory-hole slavery, and a federal judge is running out of patience with their shenanigans. At a hearing last week over the Trump administration\u2019s decision to rip out materials discussing slavery at George Washington\u2019s former Philadelphia residence Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe \u2014 a George W. Bush appointee! \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":143192,"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-143191","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\/2026\/02\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-TCKLUS.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143191","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=143191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2228563571-300x205.jpg?resize=300%2C205&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
\nKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"