Ex-employees of US Justice Department blast 'destruction' of civil rights unit
By Sarah N. Lynch
December 9, 20252:50 PM CSTUpdated 14 hours ago
U.S. Justice Department seal is seen at Justice Department headquarters in Washington The seal of the U.S. Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - More than 200 former employees of the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday criticized what they called the ongoing "destruction" of its Civil Rights Division, saying President Donald Trump's administration has abandoned the agency's mission of protecting vulnerable Americans.
In an open letter, opens new tab on the 68th anniversary of the division's creation, they alleged that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon have killed important cases intended to protect people from sexual harassment and assault, police brutality and voting inequities. They also accused leadership of changing how civil rights investigations are conducted by demanding they "find facts to fit the Administration's pre-determined outcomes."
"Most of us planned to stay at the division following the 2024 election. But after witnessing this Administration destroy much of our work, we made the heartbreaking decision to leave," they wrote in the letter, which was published by Justice Connection - an advocacy group for DOJ employees founded by a former division attorney. "Now, we must sound the alarm about the near destruction of DOJ’s once-revered crown jewel."
The Civil Rights Division was established by the 1957 Civil Rights Act. The law was originally enacted to help undo discriminatory Jim Crow racial segregation and protect the voting rights of Black people.
In a statement responding to the letter, a Justice Department spokesperson said that Bondi and Dhillon have helped restore the division to its "original mission" of protecting the rights of all Americans and accused the Biden administration of targeting political opponents, without providing evidence.
"Its strong enforcement record on a wide range of priorities – including safeguarding our elections, ending burdensome consent decrees, and rooting out antisemitism and race-based admission on college campuses – is historic," the spokesperson said.
'WE WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW'
Tuesday marked the first time that many former division attorneys have publicly spoken out since leaving the department. Robyn Bitner, one of the letter's organizers, said the group hopes it will educate Americans about what is happening and inspire them to take action.
"We want the American people to be our first audience," said Bitner, a former trial attorney who handled investigations to protect children's civil rights in state and local facilities.
"They are the people whose rights we are protecting. We want the public to know what is happening."
Dhillon has upended the division's traditional enforcement priorities and refocused them on Trump's executive directives. The division has nixed consent decrees that were in place to protect against abuses harming minorities such as excessive use of police force and segregation in public schools.
"The weaponization of consent decrees ended when I took over the Civil Rights Division," Dhillon said in a December 6 post on X.
Since January, the division has lost about 75% of its attorneys, which the letter says was part of a "coordinated effort" to drive people out.
"The new priorities of the division are really rooted in partisan politics, and not protecting the rights of all," said Regan Rush, the former chief of the section that led civil rights investigations into police abuses.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/ex-employees-us-justice-department-blast-destruction-civil-rights-unit-2025-12-09/