“Pam Bondi took a sledgehammer to the Justice Department and its workforce. DOJ’s independence, integrity, and workforce have degraded more under her leadership than at any other time during the department’s 155-year history. What she destroyed in a year could take decades to rebuild. But we have a President who fired her because she didn’t go far enough. Replacing her with a more competent Attorney General who – like her – believes their sole client is the President and not the country may just make things worse. We need the Senate to exercise its constitutional check to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Bondi has overseen a massive purge of the Justice Department’s apolitical career workforce, resulting in the departure of nearly 16,000 employees and the loss of decades of institutional knowledge.

On her first day in office, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a “zealous advocacy” memo that officially declared Justice Department attorneys are the President’s lawyers – explicitly subverting the Justice Department’s traditional duty to impartially enforce federal laws and uphold the Constitution. The memo threatened that any attorney who refuses to advance the administration’s good-faith arguments due to personal political views will face discipline or potential termination. She has made good on that promise, firing almost 270 employees, often without cause and in violation of civil service laws.

Under Bondi, the Justice Department’s prosecutorial powers have been overtly used to protect the President’s allies and punish his perceived enemies.

Because of her willingness to ignore court orders, misrepresent facts, and make arguments with no basis in the law, Justice Department lawyers have lost their “presumption of regularity” with the courts. Judges no longer believe the department is operating in good faith and telling the truth. This loss of credibility extends to the public as well, with grand juries across the country increasingly refusing to indict cases brought by the Justice Department.

On March 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed a new regulation formalizing a process in place since the late 1970s and boldly asserting unspecified federal authority over the timing of state bar investigations.

Advisory Board members Jennifer Ricketts and Rupa Bhattacharyya explain in a Substack post why the Justice Department’s new rule does nothing to ensure even-handed accountability for department attorneys. Instead, they argue, it risks undermining independent oversight at a moment when public trust in the department’s willingness to police its own lawyers has already been badly eroded.

The proposed rule creates far more problems than it claims to solve, and it puts DOJ career attorneys directly in the crosshairs. Department attorneys wield tremendous power over Americans’ lives and interests, and alumni best understand the reasons why proper accountability mechanisms must be maintained.

Justice Connection is encouraging all department alumni to submit a comment by April 6, 2026, urging the Department to reject this proposed new rule.

Justice Connection today released a video calling on the Justice Department to work jointly with state and local partners to investigate the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minnesota.

The video comes after both U.S. Senators for Minnesota sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging her to reverse the decision to not coordinate with state and local law enforcement in the Pretti shooting.

“The federal government appears to be shutting state investigators out entirely,” Sam Trepel says in the video. “Typical protocol is that the federal investigators work hand in hand with their state and local partners.”

Trepel was formerly a special litigation counsel in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and led the successful civil rights prosecution of the officers responsible for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She is now senior counsel and program director at the States United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the rule of law and free and fair elections. She has repeatedly examined and laid out why DOJ’s inaction following these tragic shootings is so damaging for our democracy.

“We’re seeing brutal, violent tactics by federal agents across the country, not just in Minneapolis,” Trepel says. “If cases like these aren’t thoroughly and fairly investigated it sends the message that federal agents aren’t accountable, that they’re above the law. And that’s a very dangerous message to send – for other officers, for the public, and for our American democracy.”

This video is the third in a series of Minnesota-related videos that are part of an ongoing effort by Justice Connection to draw public attention to DOJ’s abdication of its vital role in holding federal law enforcement accountable, as well as to provide direct support to Justice Department employees affected by the administration’s actions in the state.

Justice Connection today released a video calling on the Justice Department to restore its Community Relations Service (CRS), a decades-old unit that de-escalated civil rights conflicts until the Trump Administration shut it down last year.

The video features Julius Nam, who spent 10 years at the department – most recently with CRS. After federal immigration officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, protests erupted and trust in institutions fractured. That is exactly the kind of moment CRS was built for.

“Since 1964, CRS has existed for moments like the one we are seeing in Minneapolis,” Nam says in the video. “When tensions are high, mistrust is deep, and a city needs professional, neutral mediators to manage conflict and keep lines of communication open.”

CRS mediators were critical to preserving peace and interrupting spirals of violence after George Floyd’s death in 2020. They brought Minneapolis law enforcement and community leaders together to share information, jointly stop misinformation from spreading, and develop strategies to keep budding conflicts from turning deadly. Law enforcement officials and community leaders alike praised the impartiality and trustworthiness of CRS mediators.

“CRS has been called America’s peacemaker for good reason,” Nam says. “Had DOJ not closed CRS, our mediators and conciliators would have been available to help de-escalate violent confrontations in Minneapolis. Facilitating constructive communication among police, activists, clergy, and neighborhood leaders with one goal: Peace.”

Last year, the Justice Department dismantled CRS and reportedly moved its functions into the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, keeping one CRS employee and issuing reduction-in-force notices to its remaining employees. While the department has since rescinded some notices amid pending litigation, none of those who have reported to work are performing duties previously conducted by CRS.

“If DOJ leadership is serious about public safety and working with communities to prevent violence, it should start by restoring what it dismantled,” Nam says in the video. “A fully revived and staffed CRS is what Minneapolis and cities across America need to help lower the temperature, rebuild trust, and support lasting peace.”

For more information about CRS, see Justice Connection’s Substack post by three of its previous directors.

This video is the second in a series of Minnesota-related videos that are part of an ongoing effort by Justice Connection to draw public attention to DOJ’s abdication of its vital role in holding federal law enforcement accountable in Minnesota, as well as to provide direct support to Justice Department employees affected by the administration’s actions.

Career prosecutors in this administration are continuing to be forced to make career defining decisions. According to the New York Times, for example, U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro in the District of Columbia abruptly told prosecutors who were in the initial stages of investigating six Democratic lawmakers for making a video telling military personnel that they did not have to obey illegal orders that they needed to seek an indictment. They were faced with the decision to comply or resist.

Justice Connection is doing everything it can to support career employees who suddenly find themselves in this position and can no longer work at the department.

“When career employees are forced out of their jobs or fear they will be, they often need help navigating their transition from the Justice Department,” said Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection. “There’s no shortage of online job boards and apps that anyone can use, but connecting current and recent DOJ employees with employers who want to hire them in particular is a feature that only Justice Connection provides.”

Employers regularly reach out to Justice Connection because they want to hire exceptionally talented alumni who’ve recently left DOJ or are trying to. The network creates a formal process to collect these job opportunities and share them. The job seekers include not only attorneys but also legal support staff, law enforcement personnel, investigators, intelligence professionals, communications staff, grantmaking staff, as well as administrative and professional staff.

Employers interested in advertising an open position to Justice Connection’s network of DOJ alumni job seekers complete this form, and current and recent DOJ employees complete this form. This initiative is for people who worked at DOJ under the current administration.

The job-posting service builds on an earlier expansion of Justice Connection’s Employment Support Network announced in January, connecting current and recent employees with alumni who will give informational interviews – an opportunity for employees to seek advice and insight related to a specific career path or field. Justice Connection shares non-public lists of alumni volunteers directly with job seekers.

Alumni volunteers providing interviews have experience with many kinds of employers, such as law firms, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, policy and research firms, communications organizations, security companies, and state and local governments.

During its first year, Justice Connection provided a wealth of employment-related information to current and recent staff. We also held virtual employment events for employees across the department. These additional services will provide even greater support to the public servants who need and deserve it.

Justice Connection today released a video featuring a longtime state and federal prosecutor in Minnesota calling for the Justice Department to cooperate with state and local law enforcement investigating the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In a Senate hearing today, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison confirmed that his office has yet to receive any access to the evidence in either case.

Drew Winter spent over 10 years prosecuting violent crime at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and 24 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota. 

“In Minnesota, we used to embrace a basic principle: State and federal authorities cooperated with each other,” Winter says in the video. “Where dual jurisdiction existed on a major matter, a joint investigation was a given. That’s why what we are seeing now at DOJ is so startling.”

The video shares comments by superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Drew Evans, and Attorney General Ellison stating that their agents were refused access, blocked by federal agents from reaching the shooting site. 

“If DOJ wants to regain any semblance of credibility in Minnesota,” Winter says, “the first step is simple. Collaborate and coordinate. Share evidence. Include state and local partners. There is no legitimate justification for a federal only approach.”

This video is the first in a series of Minnesota-related videos that are part of an ongoing effort by Justice Connection to draw public attention to DOJ’s abdication of its vital role in holding federal law enforcement accountable in Minnesota, as well as to provide direct support to Justice Department employees affected by the administration’s actions.

On January 7, 2026, an ICE agent shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Good; several weeks later, CBP agents fatally shot Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti. In both instances, the Justice Department initially prohibited the Civil Rights Division from investigating the shootings according to protocol, and refused to share evidence with state and local authorities. In Good’s case, DOJ opened an investigation into Good’s widow and her supposed ties to activist groups. And after a protest at church in St. Paul, the department filed charges against Don Lemon and others under a constitutionally dubious statutory provision that DOJ had never previously enforced.

DOJ’s actions led to a mass exodus of prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, leaving it with as few as 17 Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the first week of February — down from 70 during the Biden Administration. Six attorneys at the Civil Rights Division likewise announced that they would leave the department after DOJ leadership refused to allow civil rights investigations to go forward. A supervisory FBI agent who tried to investigate Good’s shooting also resigned after being forced to close her civil rights investigation.

Justice Connection has provided direct support to the Justice Department employees affected by the administration’s actions. We’ve also worked closely with former federal prosecutors in our DOJ alumni network from Minnesota and the Civil Rights Division to draw public attention to DOJ’s abdication of its vital role in holding federal law enforcement accountable. Below are some examples of how we’ve sounded the alarm.

January 11, CBS News: As protests build in Minneapolis and Portland, Justice Department has scrapped its “Peacemakers” office 

“The Community Relations Service was designed to help de-escalate tensions like those we see in Minneapolis and Portland, and for decades it succeeded in that mission,” said Stacey Young. . . . “For no logical reason, the administration discarded the experts who were best positioned to keep budding conflicts from turning violent. We’re seeing the consequences of that fateful decision.”

January 13, MS NOW:  ‘Stunning’: Trump’s DOJ won’t investigate ICE shooting, prompting outrage and resignations 

Stacey Young talked with Jen Psaki about why the Justice Department refusing to do its job is extremely uncommon, and also an abdication of the department’s role in American governance. 

January 14, CBC’s As It Happens: A sudden resignation leaves many questions in Quebec

“The video seems to indicate . . . misconduct—serious, potentially unconstitutional misconduct – by the agent who shot Rene Good. Under any other administration, the obvious thing to do would be to send prosecutors to the scene,” said Stacey Young. “Instead, this administration is slamming the victim [and] focusing on the victim’s widow. That is alarming and nonsensical.”

January 14, Star Tribune: 33 ex-federal prosecutors ask Trump to reconsider excluding state from Renee Good investigation

Justice Connection provided behind-the-scenes support to former prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota to secure and publicize a letter asking the Trump Administration to reconsider its decision to exclude the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good. The ex-prosecutors said recent departures from the U.S. Attorney’s office will hamper future fraud investigations. 

January 20, The Contrarian: DOJ officials are resigning over ICE’s actions

In this podcast, Stacey Young and Jen Rubin talked about what’s happening in Minnesota, the consequences of an impartial Justice Department, and the possibilities for state or local prosecution for crimes that are federally pardoned. 

January 22, Justice Connection Substack: Domestic Terrorism Is a Real Threat, Not a Convenient Political Label (written by DOJ alum who served as the main point of contact for domestic terrorism matters)

When DOJ leaders and political appointees treat “domestic terrorism” as a political label, two things happen at once. Civil liberties suffer. National security suffers. The public sees the term as propaganda. Agents and prosecutors get pulled toward a narrative instead of a fact pattern. Data becomes unreliable. Resources are misallocated. Policy drifts and prevention becomes harder.

January 23, Rolling Stone: ‘Clicks and PR’: The Perversion of the DOJ Civil Rights Division Under Trump

Earlier this month, half a dozen Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned over the DOJ’s  handling of Good’s case. The departures included Joseph H. Thompson, who had spearheaded the state’s case against a widespread network of social services fraud that has become a flashpoint in the administration’s anti-immigrant messaging.

“When you lose top leaders in offices like that, not only do you lose their own institutional knowledge and expertise, but it’s extremely destabilizing to the rest of the office,” [Stacey] Young explains of the mass exodus taking place throughout the Justice Department. “Some of the top folks in that U.S. Attorney’s Office, and in the Civil Rights Division — you lost almost the entire leadership structure [and] that’s going to crush morale among those who stay, and degrade the work that office will do going forward.”

January 25, Justice Connection Press Release: Justice Connection Statement on Minneapolis Fatal Shootings

A community can only trust law enforcement when they know agents will be held accountable for acting outside their authority. That trust is built on unbiased investigations into suspected illegal conduct. But instead of pursuing those investigations, the Justice Department has publicized spurious conclusions contradicted by evidence; perverted the term “domestic terrorist” by applying it to victims and protesters; boxed out state and local law enforcement; and launched investigations into conduct by victims and surviving family members instead of the agents who fired the guns.

January 25, ABC’s Good Morning America: Former Justice Dept. officials blast DOJ’s handling of fatal Minneapolis shootings

“The Justice Department has abdicated its role in seeking accountability for these fatal shootings by refusing to investigate allegations of unlawful, excessive force by federal agents in Minneapolis,” Stacey Young said.

January 26, CBS News: In wake of another shooting in Minneapolis, senators continue to press for answers over death of Renee Good 

“Good policing requires public trust and accountability,” said Stacey Young. . . . “Rather than investigating allegations of unlawful, excessive force by federal agents in Minneapolis, the Justice Department has launched investigations into conduct by victims and surviving family members instead of the agents who fired the guns.”

January 27, MS NOW: No civil rights violation probe into latest MN shooting, sources tell MS NOW 

“You see individuals are protesting but didn’t appear to incite any violence and were killed for doing so,” Stacey Young said. “It doesn’t matter what your politics are. Anyone who believes in democracy and the rule of law should understand that exercising your first amendment rights should not result in your death.”

“When the federal government failed to respond to seemingly excessive use of force, that sends a clear signal to agents that they can use that force with impunity. The public needs to scream bloody murder until DOJ begins carrying out its duties.”

January 28, Justice Connection Substack: The Preventable Tragedy of Not Investigating Federal Agents in Minneapolis (written by DOJ alum who prosecuted cases involving law endorsement using excessive force)

[W]hen the Justice Department so brazenly tips the scales in favor of the federal government without any investigation, it erodes any semblance of legitimacy, and with it, the rule of law. That’s what makes the government’s actions in pre-emptively shutting down and prejudicing these investigations indefensible.

January 29, Washington Post: Handling of Pretti investigation has some prosecutors on verge of quitting

Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis, frustrated by the response to the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have suggested they could resign en masse. . . .

In 2024, roughly 100,000 attorneys worked across the Justice Department and its components, including the FBI. In 2025, Justice Connection. . . estimates that at least 5,500 people — not all of them attorneys — had quit the department, been fired or taken a buyout offered by the Trump administration. The department has struggled to find qualified candidates to fill these vacancies. 

January 31, Los Angeles Times: Trump officials’ loss of credibility in ICE cases seen in court defeats 

“When top federal law enforcement leaders in the country push false narratives like this, it leads the public to question everything the government says going forward,” said Peter Carr, a former Justice Department spokesman in Washington who served in Democratic and Republican administrations. . . . “That trust that has been built up over generations is gone.”

February 1, CBS’s 60 Minutes: Is the state being shut out of the Pretti shooting investigation?

Justice Connection worked with 60 Minutes to secure an interview with Sam Trepel, a former prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division who led the federal prosecution in the death of George Floyd in 2020. 

Trepel: “The federal government appears to be shutting the state investigators out completely. And that’s very unusual and, in fact, unprecedented, in my experience. Typically, the federal investigative team and the state investigative team work very closely together. And they coordinate, and they collect evidence in close coordination with one another, and then they share that evidence. But, in Minneapolis, state investigators tell us that federal agents are not sharing the evidence.”

February 3, Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner

On Glenn Kirschner’s podcast, Stacey Young discussed how federal government officials “made public statements immediately after the Renee Good killing demonizing Renee Good and her spouse, saying there’s no reason to open a civil rights investigation into what happened. That’s preposterous. You don’t need to be a civil rights lawyer to know that what happened may have been a serious civil rights violation. DOJ should’ve been on the ground the next day.”

February 4, Justice Connection Substack: Charging Don Lemon with Violating the FACE Act Carries Significant Legal Risks (written by DOJ alum who prosecuted cases under the FACE Act)

[F]ormer CNN anchor Don Lemon and several others were arrested by federal agents in connection with a January 18, 2026, incident that disrupted services at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. The arrests instantly became national news.

The Department of Justice charged Lemon and his co-defendants — much to the surprise of many — with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, a statute that until now has been used exclusively to prosecute interference with access to reproductive health services. Before this case, I am not aware of any instance in which federal prosecutors invoked the FACE Act to address misconduct at a house of worship. . . . 

For decades, career prosecutors at the Department of Justice intentionally left the religious-worship provision on the shelf, fully aware of its glaring constitutional and legal risks.

February 4, Axios: 300+ ex-DOJ lawyers demand transparent Minnesota shooting probes

Justice Connection helped the Prosecutors Alliance and the Vera Institute of Justice gather the signatures of more than 300 former federal prosecutors and civil rights attorneys for an open letter urging DOJ “to allow state and local investigations into the killings of two Minnesota residents by federal officers, according to a new letter obtained exclusively by Axios.”

February 4, CBS News: With latest Minnesota fraud case looming, the lead prosecutors have quit 

“We should all pay attention to why some of the state’s top federal prosecutors chose to leave – it had nothing to do with political disagreement; rather, this administration asked them to violate their legal and ethical responsibilities, and they believed the exit was their only option,” [Stacey] Young said. “The loss of institutional knowledge and expertise will destabilize the U.S. Attorney’s office, leaving Minnesotans’ safety and rights less protected.”

February 12, Justice Connection Press Release: Justice Connection Releases Video Advocating for DOJ to Cooperate with State and Local Partners to Investigate Good and Pretti Shootings

February 19, Justice Connection Press Release: Justice Connection Releases Video Highlighting Need for America’s Peacemaker in Minnesota

February 27, Justice Connection Press Release: Justice Connection Releases Video Calling for DOJ to Hold Federal Agents Accountable for Fatal Shootings

March 10, CBS News: DOJ’s Alex Pretti shooting probe excludes prosecutors who specialize in civil rights cases, sources say

“The Civil Rights Division still has career attorneys with a deep background in these investigations,” said Stacey Young, a former division attorney who founded the nonprofit advocacy group Justice Connection. “Ignoring them and designating attorneys with little if any relevant expertise to run one of the department’s highest-profile civil rights investigations shows DOJ leadership has no intention of pursuing any real accountability.”

“The Justice Department has abdicated its role in seeking accountability for these fatal shootings by refusing to investigate allegations of unlawful, excessive force by federal agents in Minneapolis. The Justice Department has its mission in its title – but in cases like these, justice is nowhere to be found.

“A community can only trust law enforcement when they know agents will be held accountable for acting outside their authority. That trust is built on unbiased investigations into suspected illegal conduct. But instead of pursuing those investigations, the Justice Department has publicized spurious conclusions contradicted by evidence; perverted the term “domestic terrorist” by applying it to victims and protesters; boxed out state and local law enforcement; and launched investigations into conduct by victims and surviving family members instead of the agents who fired the guns.

“Under any previous administration, the Justice Department would’ve launched civil rights investigations into the use of force in the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Failures like these led to the departures of senior employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, the Civil Rights Division, and the FBI – adding to the loss of the institutional expertise necessary to guide the department in critical moments like these.”

For more on the administration’s politicized misuse of “domestic terrorist,” see this recent piece on Justice Connection’s Substack by Thomas E. Brzozowski, who spent nearly a decade as the main point of contact within DOJ for domestic terrorism matters.

“We work every day to support the countless DOJ employees who are fighting to stay in their jobs. But many have been ousted, and others are resigning in response to this administration’s senseless actions; Minnesota was just the latest example,” said Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection. “These employees often need help with their job searches, and this new initiative creates a way for DOJ alumni to provide it.”

The network will connect current and recent employees with over a hundred (and growing) alumni who will give informational interviews – an opportunity for employees to seek advice and insight related to a specific career path or field. Justice Connection will share non-public lists of alumni volunteers directly with employees.

Informational interviews will be available to various types of DOJ professionals, including::

• Attorneys

• Legal support staff

• Law enforcement officials, investigators, and intelligence professionals

• Communications staff

• Grantmaking staff

• Administrative staff

Alumni volunteers have experience with many kinds of employers, such as law firms, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, policy and research firms, communications organizations, security companies, and state and local governments.

Any Justice Department alumni who are interested in joining this network and helping Justice Department employees find new jobs can email alumni@thejusticeconnection.org.

During its first year, Justice Connection provided a wealth of employment-related information to current and recent staff. We also held virtual employment events for employees across the department. This new program will provide even greater support to the public servants who need and deserve it.

“If Senators believe that they have been harmed by an act of the United States, they can seek any available remedy under the Federal Tort Claims Act on the same terms as any other person,” said Rupa Bhattacharyya, advisory committee member of Justice Connection who handled tort claims for 12 years in both the administrative claims process and in federal court litigation. “This favorable treatment available only to a handful of individuals is inequitable, unjust, and blatant self-dealing.”

The provision was added in response to steps DOJ took to investigate President Trump’s alleged attempt to subvert the results of the 2020 election, and applies retroactively to any data acquisition occurring on or after January 1, 2022. No allegation of illegal conduct has been established with regard to the evidence collection, which was authorized by a federal grand jury and referenced in both the indictment of President Trump for election interference and final report issued by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Congress enacted the Federal Tort Claims Act in 1946 to give people injured by the negligent acts of their government a pathway to sue to recover financial compensation for the injury. One reason for the law was to eliminate the unfair practice of bestowing congressional favor to private individuals through individual bills. This new provision undercuts the intent of that law and instead gives individual senators the ability to line their pockets with taxpayer money. It also sets a terrible precedent by making the government liable for statutory damages far beyond any provable need for compensation, akin to waiving the federal government’s sovereign immunity for punitive damages.

The retroactivity in the provision also raises constitutional concerns, as it purports to hold the United States liable for actions that were not required at the time of the underlying conduct. The provision is confusingly vague, as it assigns monetary liability to the United States while imposing the notification obligation on service providers and the U.S. Sergeant at Arms. And the attempt to immunize the service providers and Sergeant at Arms from liability for violating court orders is also a potential separation of powers challenge. As Michael Feinberg and Natale Orpett explain in Lawfare, “the new law is an unreasonable answer to a reasonable question.” The American people deserve better from their lawmakers.

“If senators are truly concerned about the Justice Department’s ability to secure phone records without notifying the individual, they should thoughtfully impose adequate safeguards they believe are necessary to protect all citizens by exercising their traditional oversight and legislative powers,” Bhattacharyya said. “Even if any funds recovered were returned to the U.S. Treasury, as Senate Majority Leader Thune has proposed, the self-dealing here is unconscionable.”