Being a federal prosecutor has long been a prized job in the legal profession. That’s been true no matter who the president was at the time of the prosecutor’s hiring. Assistant U.S. attorneys serve across Republican and Democratic administrations, focusing on the cases they’re prosecuting, not the president’s politics at any given moment.
So it was only the latest debasement of the Justice Department in the Donald Trump era when former Trump DOJ official Chad Mizelle, who left the administration but is apparently still connected to it, posted this message on X over the weekend: “If you are a lawyer, are interested in being an AUSA, and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda, DM me. We need good prosecutors. And DOJ is hiring across the country. Now is your chance to join the mission and do good for our country.”
Putting the administration’s stamp on the matter, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller boosted Mizelle’s post while adding his own pitch: “If you want to combat fraud, crime and illegal immigration, reach out. Patriots needed.”
The informality of Mizelle’s social media post aside, its most disturbing aspect is the implication that supporting the current president’s politics is a requirement for being a federal prosecutor.
That’s unethical, because prosecutors swear an oath to the Constitution, not to the president.
And though the current administration isn’t concerned with the long-term health of the government, it’s unwise from a practical standpoint. Plenty of capable lawyers who don’t necessarily support Trump (or any particular president) would be perfectly happy to prosecute cases that have nothing to do with partisan politics one way or the other. While criminal cases brought against politicians make headlines, prosecutors regularly work on cases involving violence, drugs, fraud and other issues that have no political focus as such, or at least have a bipartisan nature to them.
Miller’s message quickly fails the laugh test by leading with the opportunity “to combat fraud.” One of the reasons it’s hard to take seriously is that fraudsters have greatly benefited from Trump’s clemency, which has upended work that prosecutors have already done to combat fraud. And the administration’s Miller-backed anti-immigrant push in Minnesota has led to some of the latest DOJ departures — including that of a top fraud prosecutor — continuing the trend of Trump hollowing out the department while making it a tool of his vengeance.
To the extent that “good prosecutors” (to use Mizelle’s term) join and remain in the DOJ — and there are still good ones there — it’s despite the likes of Miller and Mizelle giving them reason to stay away.
Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for expert analysis on the top legal stories of the week, including updates from the Supreme Court and developments in the Trump administration’s legal cases.
