More than 275 former Justice Department employees are demanding Congress increase oversight of the department following a mass exodus of career officials who question the integrity of the department's work.
Why it matters: The letter comes a day before Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies in front of Congress for the first time since her confirmation, and amid widespread questions about the department's decisions to target President Trump's political foes such as former FBI director James Comey.
- It also comes after roughly 4,500 employees officially departed the DOJ following the DOGE-sponsored "fork in the road" buyout offers.
What they're saying: "For decades, the guiding tenet for those working at the department was to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons. Many believe that's no longer possible," Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection, which organized the letter, said in a news release on Monday.
- "They're being asked to put loyalty to the President over the Constitution, the rule of law, and their professional ethical obligations," she said.
- "We're seeing the erosion of the Justice Department's fabric and integrity at an alarming pace. Our democratic system cannot survive without the primary institution that enforces the law."
- The department did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
What's inside: The letter is signed by a wide variety of former employees, including prosecutors, special agents, intelligence analysts, immigration judges and grant managers who slam the DOJ for "failing" in three main areas.
- The group says the department is no longer upholding the law when it works to carry out the president's "retribution campaign," violates court orders, evades due process requirements; or fires its employees without cause in violation of America's civil service laws.
- The letter alleges the DOJ can't keep the country safe when it ousts seasoned law enforcement employees, shutters offices that prevent community violence or shifts "highly-trained special agents" away from counterintelligence and counterterrorism.
- The signers also claim that the DOJ can't protect civil rights when it "drives out 75% of attorneys from the Civil Rights Division and refuses to enforce" America's anti-discrimination laws "as Congress intended, using them instead as a cudgel against marginalized groups."
Driving the news: Bondi is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as part of a spree of oversight hearings at the Capitol.
- She is likely to face questions over Comey's indictment and the department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Zoom out: Approximately 107 out of roughly 320 career senior managers have left the department since Trump's second term started, leaving a massive expertise vacuum, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Law.
- The DOJ said Bloomberg's data is incorrect but did not offer updated, accurate numbers when requested by Axios last week.
Go deeper: White House backs Trump's prosecutions, blasts "gaslighting" critics
