Ben Penn, Bloomberg Law; Trump DOJ Assigns Sensitive Ethics Powers to Political Aides
"The Trump Justice Department has assigned politically appointed newcomers decisionmaking power over sensitive matters, including ethics, employee discipline, and release of information sought by inspectors general and Congress, stripping these authorities from the longstanding oversight of a senior career official.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, in a Jan. 27 memo reviewed by Bloomberg Law, handed the authorities to two of his staffers — one a former criminal defense lawyer for President Donald Trump and another a 2021 law school graduate...
Delegating such weighty tasks to political aides — both first-time DOJ employees — without a career official’s involvement is a dramatic departure from past practice."
