Former US Justice Department staff says civil rights division destroyed'

"Every election brought changes, but the fundamental mission of our work remained the same. That's why most of us planned to stay at the Division following the 2024 election, the letter reads. But after witnessing this Administration destroy much of our work, we made the heartbreaking decision to leave along with hundreds of colleagues, including about 75 percent of attorneys. Now, we must sound the alarm about the near destruction of DOJ's once-revered crown jewel."

"But Trump and his allies have often depicted efforts to address racial inequality as a form of discrimination targeting white people. Tuesday's letter from the former Justice Department employees says that the Civil Rights Division's focus has shifted to issues aligned with Trump's own priorities. Rather than rigorously evaluating the evidence to pursue only the most egregious cases, they demanded that we find facts to fit the Administration's predetermined outcomes, the letter said."

More than 200 former Civil Rights Division employees have resigned, citing a rollback of civil rights enforcement and a reorientation toward the president's priorities. The departures include roughly 75 percent of division attorneys and followed decisions seen as abandoning prior civil-rights work, including Attorney General Pam Bondi's move to drop a lawsuit initiated under the previous administration. The division, established in 1957 to combat codified segregation and discrimination during the Jim Crow era, historically investigated patterns of discrimination in housing, policing and voting rights. Former staff contend that priorities shifted from evidence-based prosecutions to producing outcomes aligned with administration directives.

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