Explore our latest updates and press to stay informed about Justice Connection.
Former DOJ civil rights lawyers flooding DC litigation market
Law.com, June 5, 2025
Jen Swedish has joined Justice Connection as its deputy director. Justice Connection just launched a legal network to provide pro bono representation to current and recent DOJ employees facing federal employment-related actions, as well as criminal, congressional and other investigations related to their work with the department.
Read NowJustice Connection to offer pro bono support for DOJ workers
Bloomberg Law, June 4
"Stacey Young, founder and executive director of Justice Connection, said the pro bono representation network was part of her original idea when founding Justice Connection, after she realized there wouldn’t be enough federal sector lawyers and specialists to represent DOJ employees who need it."
Read NowDOJ alumni aid group launches pro bono legal network
Law360, June 4, 2025
"Justice Connection, a group founded by former U.S. Department of Justice attorneys in response to the Trump administration's ongoing purge of the department, has launched a pro bono legal network to represent DOJ attorneys being 'unfairly targeted' by the administration."
Read NowEx-DOJ lawyers form a legal network to protect former colleagues — for free
NOTUS, June 4, 2025
The network is made up of volunteers who are familiar with the ins and outs of the department and are willing to brave retribution from the White House.
Read NowJustice Department investigation of racial hiring at City Hall also highlights President Donald Trump's own hiring record
Chicago Tribune, June 3
Stacey Young quote: "Targeting employers for DEIA initiatives isn’t something that’s contemplated by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act or the precedent that has evolved interpreting that statute. It’s a political stunt, and they’ve weaponized the civil rights division to advance it."
Read NowTrump's pardons highlight Justice Department's pullback from public corruption cases
NBC News, May 28, 2025
Stacey Young quote: “Pardoning a sheriff who took cash for deputy badges is just the latest in a string of actions this president has taken to undermine any effort to hold officials accountable to the public they are sworn to serve."
Read NowEd Martin was too extreme for GOP senators. Now he’s targeting Trump’s enemies at the DOJ
Democracy Docket, May 22, 2025
"Stacey Young, the founder of Justice Connection and a former longtime attorney in the DOJ’s civil rights division, told Democracy Docket. 'They seem to be targeting the President’s political enemies, which is antithetical to how the rule of law must work.'"
Read Now70% of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division lawyers are leaving because of Trump's reshaping
NPR, May 19, 2025
"Grant talks to Stacey Young. Young is a former DOJ lawyer of 18 years who left the department in January. Since then, she started the group Justice Connection, which aims to help former DOJ employees fight back against an administration that's been weaponized against them."
Listen NowDevastation at the DOJ with Stacey Young from Justice Connection
Grant Hermes Podcast, May 16, 2025
Stacey Young said, "It's absolutely the dismantling of the [Civil Rights] Division when, in just a couple of months, you have radically diverted enforcement in a way that drives out almost three-quarters of the division. There's no other way to describe that but a dismantling."
Watch NowProsecutor in Trump classified files case takes 5th Amendment in private interview with Congress
AP, May 14, 2025
“'He did not choose to investigate Mar-a-Lago; rather, the facts and evidence of a serious breach of law and national security led him there,' Peter Carr, a spokesman for Justice Connection, a network of Justice Department alumni, said on behalf of Bratt."
Read NowFBI folds the public corruption squad that aided Jack Smith's Trump investigations
NBC News, May 15, 2025
Stacey Young said, "The administration gutted the Public Integrity Section, neutered the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C., and is now shuttering the FBI’s pre-eminent federal public corruption squad. This isn’t what voters had in mind when they heard, ‘drain the swamp."
Read NowUS justice department asks civil rights division attorneys to stay after mass exits
The Guardian, May 14, 2025
“'In addition to treating the civil rights division staff with complete disrespect, they’re also utterly incompetent,' said Stacey Young, who started Justice Connection. 'They drove people out and only after the fact seem to have realized that that was a terrible idea.'”
Read NowKey prosecutor in Trump’s classified documents case takes the Fifth in House Judiciary deposition
CNN, May 14, 2025
“'This administration and its proxies have made no effort to hide their willingness to weaponize the machinery of government against those they perceive as political enemies,' Justice Connection spokesman Peter Carr said in a statement to CNN. 'That should alarm every American who believes in the rule of law.'"
Read NowMar-a-Lago special prosecutor takes the fifth at ‘weaponized’ House committee
The Guardian, May 14, 2025
“'This administration and its proxies have made no effort to hide their willingness to weaponize the machinery of government against those they perceive as political enemies. That should alarm every American who believes in the rule of law,' said Peter Carr, a spokesman for Justice Connection."
Read NowDOJ shakeup may put civil rights probe of 1970 Jackson State, Mississippi, killings At risk
The Marshall Project, May 14, 2025
Oneshia Herring, a Justice Connection advisory board member and former chair of the Department of Justice’s Association of Black Attorneys and a former attorney in the Civil Rights Division, said the administration’s selective enforcement of the law is “running against the very nature and spirit of which these laws were created.”
Read NowTrump's push to reshape the DOJ's civil rights division sparks mass exodus of attorneys
NPR, May 13, 2025
Stacey Young quote: "It's absolutely the dismantling of the division when, in just a couple of months, you have radically diverted enforcement in a way that drives out almost three-quarters of the division. There's no other way to describe that but a dismantling."
Read NowDOJ voting section has just three lawyers left, watchdog estimates
Democracy Docket, May 12, 2025
"The voting section of the U.S. Department of Justice has only three attorneys left on staff, according to an estimate provided by a group working to support the department’s remaining staff."
Read NowKash Patel's new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events
NBC News, May 9, 2025
"Stacey Young, a former DOJ lawyer who co-founded Justice Connection, a group dedicated to supporting current and former DOJ employees, said current and former DOJ and FBI officials remain concerned about Patel’s approach."
Read NowJustice Department will switch its focus on voting and prioritize Trump’s elections order, memo says
Associated Press, May 3, 2025
“'The Civil Rights Division is charged with ensuring that Americans have access to the polls and that their votes matter,' said Stacey Young. 'The division’s job is not to promote the politically expedient fiction that voting fraud is widespread.'"
Read NowJustice department civil rights division loses 70% of lawyers under Trump
The Guardian, May 1, 2025
"Stacey Young, a former civil rights division attorney who started the group Justice Connection, called Dhillon’s message 'sadistic.' 'I’ve never seen DoJ employees treated with the kind of malice from their own government, like we’re seeing now.'"
Read NowJustice Connection founder Stacey Young on MSNBC's Deadline: White House
MSNBC, Apr. 29, 2025
Justice Connection Founder Stacey Young joined Alicia Menendez on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House" to warn the American people about the devastating impact of losing 70% of Civil Rights Division attorneys.
Read NowCivil rights lawyers leave en masse as Justice Department mission shifts
The Washington Post, Apr. 29, 2025
“'For almost 70 years, the civil rights division has enforced laws that Congress passed to promote equality, dignity and fairness for all Americans,' said Stacey Young. 'By effectively purging the vast majority of the division’s lawyers, DOJ is grinding this work to a near halt.'”
Read NowDOJ Civil Rights unit makes sharp turn toward Trump causes
Bloomberg, Apr. 28, 2025
“'I’ve never heard my former colleagues sound so defeated and scared for the future of their work, and also their own jobs. There’s enormous fear and anxiety about the division’s future,' Young said."
Read NowCritics see ‘monumental shift’ in Trump remaking of DOJ civil rights division
The Hill, Apr. 28, 2025
“'The impact is catastrophic. They are scaling back possibly, nearly all enforcement that they have been doing for decades on civil rights statutes they’re required to enforce,' said Stacey Young."
Read NowAlarm at changes to Justice Dept.’s Civil Rights Office prompts ‘exodus’
The New York Times, Apr. 28, 2025
“'With the reckless dismantling of the division,' Young said, 'we’ll see unchecked discrimination and constitutional violations in schools, housing, employment, voting, prisons, by police departments and in many other realms of our daily lives.'”
Read NowJustice Department cutting grants that help crime victims
NBC, Apr. 24, 2025
“'This administration can’t claim to care about things like supporting crime victims, curbing gun violence, and reducing opioid deaths while slashing grants to entities that do the hard work to achieve these goals,' said Stacey Young"
Read NowCrime victims groups stripped of federal grant awards by Trump administration
CBS News, Apr. 24, 2025
"Former Department of Justice Civil Rights Division official Stacey Young told CBS News, 'This administration can't claim to care about things like supporting crime victims, curbing gun violence, and reducing opioid deaths while slashing grants to entities that do the hard work to achieve these goals.'"
Read NowTrump upends DOJ's Civil Rights Division, sparking 'bloodbath' in senior ranks
NBC News, Apr. 23, 2025
“'Every presidential administration has its own policy priorities,' said Stacey Young, who spent 18 years in the division before resigning in January, 'but I don’t think there’s any precedent for an administration almost completely refocusing the civil rights division’s enforcement priorities the way this one has.'"
Read NowHe represented contentious immigration cases for the government. His candor lost him his job
The Wall St. Journal, Apr. 15, 2025
"Stacey Young, a former DOJ lawyer who worked with Reuveni, said she knew him to be one of the government’s most zealous advocates, even when defending unpopular policies. 'But he’d never shirk his ethical responsibilities and commitment to the rule of law, and the fact that DOJ attorneys now seem to be expected to do so is appalling,' said Young."
Read NowNew US Justice Department policy cracks down on social media posts
Reuters, Apr. 15, 2025
Featured quote from Stacey Young: "The new policy represents another unwarranted attack on DOJ employees - one that stifles their free speech in their private lives and creates new ways for the administration to oust career public servants who don't toe the party line."
Read NowYouTube admits error in removal of Justice Connection's channel
The Washington Post, Apr. 10, 2025
Google wrongly labeled Justice Connection's Fox News ad as "misinformation” and removed our YouTube page. Google denied our appeal with no explanation until The Washington Post reached out for comment.
Read NowJustice Connection founder Stacey Young testifies in Congress
Justice Connection, Apr. 9, 2025
Justice Connection founder and executive director Stacey Young testified about ongoing attacks on the Justice Department’s workforce before members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in a hearing on “Restoring Accountability: Exposing Trump’s Attacks on the Rule of Law.”
Read NowJustice Connection's Stacey Young joins Talking Feds Podcast
Talking Feds Podcast, Apr. 8, 2025
Justice Connection's Stacey Young joins Talking Feds Podcast alongside reporters Devlin Barrett and Evan Perez to discuss the current state of the DOJ's workforce under the new Administration.
Listen NowFired U.S. pardon attorney complains of intimidation tactics ahead of testimony in 'shadow hearing'
NBC News, Apr. 7, 2025
"Democratic members of Congress are set to spotlight Justice Department employees who resigned or were fired in recent months. Also at the hearing will be Stacey Young, a Justice Department veteran who launched the group Justice Connection to support department employees who were fired or resigned."
Read NowJustice Dept. lawyers are struggling to defend Trump’s policies in court
The New York Times, Apr. 7, 2025
"'Justice Department attorneys are being put in an impossible position: Obey the president, or uphold their ethical duty to the court and the Constitution,' said Stacey Young."
Read NowJudge says deportation of Maryland man to an El Salvador prison was ‘wholly lawless’
AP, Apr. 6, 2025
"Stacey Young, a former Justice Department lawyer and founder of Justice Connection, a network of department alumni that works to support employees, released a statement that defended Reuveni: 'We should all be grateful to DOJ lawyers who choose principle over politics and the rule of law over partisan loyalty.'"
Read NowWhite House firing of a career prosecutor pulls Justice Department under ever-closer control
NBC News, Apr. 2, 2025
“'The White House firing career prosecutors for doing their jobs is likely unprecedented,' Young told NBC News. 'It’s also the very weaponization this administration pretends to oppose.'”
Read NowJustice Department places attorney who struggled to explain Maryland man's deportation on leave
NBC News, Apr. 5, 2025
"The head of Justice Connection, a network of former Justice Department employees, defended Reuveni, saying in a statement that he has 'defended his clients with great skill and integrity — never as a loyalist or partisan, but because he believes in the rule of law.'"
Read NowWhite House abruptly fires career Justice Department prosecutors in latest norm-shattering move.
AP, Mar. 31, 2025
Quote from Justice Connection's Stacey Young: "The integrity of our legal system and the independence of DOJ requires that laws are enforced impartially, which cannot happen when the White House fires career prosecutors to advance a political agenda."
Read NowUS Justice Department considers merging DEA, ATF in major shakeup
Reuters, Mar. 27, 2025
"'Gutting DOJ and merging ATF and DEA weakens law enforcement’s ability to combat gun violence, the fentanyl epidemic, and generally keep American communities secure and healthy,' said Stacey Young, founder and executive director of Justice Connection."
Read NowAs DOJ employees fear what comes next, alums form group to help
ABA Journal, Mar. 25, 2025
ABA on formation of Justice Connection: "The goal is to have an 'army of alumni from the largest law firm in the world' prepared to help DOJ employees through the complex federal employment appeals process when they are fired, demoted or face other related issues."
Read NowA new grassroots group is offering free therapy for federal workers
Axios, Mar. 25, 2025
Axios featured Justice Connection's mental health resources, including its provider list provided to DOJ employees, in a story about therapists offering free mental health support to federal employees.
Read NowCBS News Interviews Justice Connection Founder and Executive Director, Stacey Young
CBS, Mar. 11, 2025
Stacey Young sat down with Scott MacFarlane at CBS News to discuss the dangerous attacks on DOJ employees. Cuts of the interview aired on three CBS News shows and on CNN.
Watch NowTrump DOJ Assigns Sensitive Ethics Powers to Political Aides
Bloomberg Law, Feb. 16, 2025
“'Transferring the authority over ethics and employee discipline from a career stalwart like Brad Weinsheimer to partisan loyalists could further expose employees to political retribution, and exacerbate the culture of fear at the Department,' said Stacey Young, who resigned after 18 years as a DOJ attorney Jan. 31 to launch Justice Connection."
Read NowNews Coverage of Justice Connection's Open Letter from Former Federal Prosecutors
Justice Connection, Mar. 10-11, 2025
Our open letter in support of DOJ prosecutors was covered by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, ABC, CBS, Axios, and others.
Read NowJustice Department Support Group Gets Big Response Amid Upheaval
Bloomberg Law, Feb. 24, 2025
"Justice Connection, was launched as mass layoffs and leadership shakeups have rocked the federal workforce since President Donald Trump took office."
Read NowFormer DOJ Lawyer Starts Group to Defend Government Employees Under Attack
NPR, Feb. 6, 2025
"A veteran Justice Department lawyer has left the agency and is starting a new group to help advise and defend government lawyers under attack from the new administration."
Listen NowHow Trump’s Sweeping Expulsions Have Thrown the FBI Into Chaos
The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 5, 2025
"Trump administration officials have 'declared war on their own workforce,' said Stacey Young, a litigator in the Justice Department’s civil rights division who resigned last month and set up an outside group, Justice Connection, to help employees navigate the workplace confusion."
Read NowNew Group Aims to Help Justice Dept. Employees Alarmed by Trump
The New York Times, Jan. 31, 2025
"The group, Justice Connection, intends to support employees who say they are facing professional and ethical crises under the new administration."
Read NowStacey Young's Opening Remarks at to the House Committee on the Judiciary
House Committee on the Judiciary, Jan. 31, 2024
Stacey Young, Founder and Executive Director of Justice Connection, delivers opening remarks at the Democratic briefing, titled "Rights, Resources, and Recourses for DOJ Employees Targeted by the Trump Administration."
Watch NowStacey Young's Statement to the House Committee on the Judiciary
House Committee on the Judiciary, Jan. 31, 2024
Justice Connection's founder provides statement to the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Democratic briefing, titled "Rights, Resources, and Recourses for DOJ Employees Targeted by the Trump Administration."
Read NowI’m a Federal Employee. This Is What We Need Most in the Trump Era.
The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2025
Justice Connection's Executive Director, Stacey Young, publishes a call to action in The New York Times days before the inauguration.
Read Now