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The attack on democracy you probably missed
The Justice Department on Friday quietly took revenge on prosecutors who’d worked to hold Trump’s allies accountable.
Patrick Reis was the senior politics and ideas editor at Vox. He previously worked at Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Politico, National Journal, and Seattle’s Real Change News. As a reporter and editor, he has worked on coverage of campaign politics, economic policy, the federal death penalty, climate change, financial regulation, and homelessness.
Welcome to the Logoff. Today I’m covering another purge at the Justice Department, where Donald Trump’s administration is taking revenge against high-ranking career prosecutors who prosecuted Trump allies over January 6 and in other criminal cases.
What’s the latest? The head of the Washington, DC, US attorney’s office demoted seven high-ranking prosecutors on Friday, Reuters reports, moving them to entry-level positions in a bid to force them to quit. Those demoted include:
- The leader of the “Capitol siege prosecution unit”
- A prosecutor who worked on criminal cases against Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro
- Prosecutors who worked on criminal cases against the heads of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, two far-right extremist groups that worked to steal the 2020 election on Trump’s behalf
The experienced attorneys will now mostly handle misdemeanors and low-level crimes. The demotions follow the January firing of US attorneys who prosecuted Trump over his attempt to steal the 2020 election.
Why were they demoted? Ed Martin, the Trump-appointed new head of the DC office, claimed the moves reflected a shift in priorities and a focus on local crime in DC. But the Trump-related experiences of the officials selected — and the move of experienced prosecutors to entry-level jobs — make it difficult to believe this wasn’t an act of retribution.
What’s the big picture? The demotions send a strong signal to prosecutors that there will be consequences for officials who try to hold Trump and his allies accountable to the law. It’s also another blow against the DOJ’s independence, as Trump works to remake law enforcement as a tool he can wield for political ends. And the move weakens the US attorney’s office in Washington, which is tasked with prosecuting abuses of power by some of the country’s most powerful people.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
Vox’s Gray Area podcast this week is about the science of changing one’s own personality — how, why, and if one should endeavor to fix the parts of ourselves that we don’t like. It’s a 45-minute listen, perfect for a walk outside (or, in my case, doing some long-overdue dishes). Whatever you decide to do while listening, I promise it’s a far, far better option than the doomscroll. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for all the smart emails this weekend, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.
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