A top Justice Department official delivered a blunt ultimatum to the nation's federal prosecutors as senior officials stream out of the agency.
Aakash Singh, a senior aide to Attorney General Todd Blanche, told U.S. attorneys on a Monday conference call that the department is now on a "wartime footing" for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term, and that prosecutors unwilling to aggressively chase the president's priorities should consider resigning, MS NOW reported Tuesday, citing two people with knowledge of the call.
Singh linked the new posture to Democrats' takeover of Congress in January, when the party will control the committees expected to scrutinize the Justice Department, according to the report.
Leah Foley, Trump's U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, told MS NOW she understood Singh's message as a call to tune out Democratic investigations and keep advancing Trump's agenda. She called it "a pep talk" and said Singh asked prosecutors to "reflect as to whether this is still the job that you want."
A DOJ spokesperson claimed the "wartime" remark was about public safety, arguing that newly elected state and local officials in several districts have lost interest in working with federal law enforcement. She added that Singh "never said anyone would be forced out."
The warning comes as top officials head for the exits in the days since Democrats swept the midterms. The department has announced the departures of three presidentially appointed assistant attorneys general who led the national security, civil rights and civil divisions, plus four other senior political appointees. Five sources told the outlet that while most left for private-sector jobs, some were forced out for falling short of what Trump and the White House demanded.
Two people familiar with the departures said Trump lost patience with Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, after he never delivered charges in the "grand conspiracy" case aimed at Obama-era officials such as former CIA director John Brennan over the Russia probe. Another person disputed that account.
Former administration officials also pointed to Stephen Miller's elevation to White House chief of staff as a factor, with one saying Miller "routinely berates people at the department on conference calls." Two former officials faulted Blanche, with one describing "a culture of fear" under his leadership.
"People don't want to work in these conditions," one of them said.
The DOJ spokesperson rejected that portrayal, insisting Blanche is the most accessible and understanding attorney general the department ever had.