An attorney helping President-elect Trump plan for the transition at the Justice Department said Monday that career employees opposed to his vision for the agency should leave.
Mark Paoletta wrote on X that Justice Department employees would play a role in carrying out a variety of measures, from immigration enforcement to “soft on crime prosecutors” to helping with pardons for Jan. 6 defendants and others.
“If these career DOJ employees won’t implement President Trump’s program in good faith, they should leave. Those employees who engage in so-called ‘resistance’ against the duly-elected President’s lawful agenda would be subverting American democracy,” Paoletta wrote.
“Finally, those that take such actions would be subject to disciplinary measures, including termination.”
Paoletta gave a nod to numerous grievances raised by Trump, saying that the Justice Department would be “immediately stopping the lawfare and persecution of political opponents that is unprecedented in American history and destroying our democracy.”
He also said the administration would be “granting pardons or commutations to January 6th defendants and other defendants who have been subjected to politically-driven lawfare prosecutions and sentences.”
Trump has floated prosecutions of his political enemies under his future Justice Department, including prosecutors that have brought cases against him.
He has said he would fire special counsel Jack Smith “within two seconds” and his future DOJ leaders are expected to drop all charges against him.
Trump has stressed the importance of loyalty in a second administration and has accused federal employees of being part of a “deep state” pushing back against his agenda.
He has pledged to sign a new order creating a class of “Schedule F” employees, converting many federal staff into positions where they could be fired at will and replaced with political appointees. It’s a concept that could also be carried out with career Justice Department attorneys.
Mark Davis, among those being considered for a nomination as attorney general, chimed in to comment on Paoletta’s tweet.
“Justice Department employees work for the President of the United States, who is elected by all Americans. Their job is to carry out his lawful orders. If they have a policy disagreement with him, they can always resign and run for Congress,” he wrote.
“But they should not obstruct justice by undermining his orders.”
