'Unchecked bullying:' DOJ lawyer fired over Mel Gibson flap warns of 'dangerous' admin act

A former Department of Justice lawyer shamed deputy attorney general Todd Blanche for attempting to "bully" after pushing her out for refusing to restore actor Mel Gibson's gun rights.

The Donald Trump-supporting movie star lost his gun rights after a 2011 domestic violence misdemeanor conviction, and former pardon attorney Liz Oyer published a piece in Rolling Stone explaining why she believes she was fired for refusing to facilitate a political favor to Gibson by reinstating his right to own firearms. – which Blanche has disputed.

"I chose to share this story publicly because it is part of a pervasive and dangerous phenomenon happening throughout the Department of Justice," Oyer wrote. "Through unchecked bullying, the political leaders of the department are forcing out career staff, ripping away ethical guardrails, and offering priority access to government benefits to loyalists and friends. I am deeply concerned that the institution created to uphold our laws and protect our civil rights is being destroyed from within by those entrusted to protect it."

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"When I went public," she added. "Blanche clapped back with just the type of response you would expect from someone who has no principled position to rest on."

Blanche claimed she was violating her ethical duties "by making false accusations on press tours," which he called a "shameful distraction," but Oyer said his statement met all three criteria for a "classic bully response" – lying, threatening and asserting the moral high ground.

"Bizarrely, Blanche accuses me of lying despite the fact that DOJ possesses the memos and emails telling the whole story," she wrote. "Two of Blanche’s senior aides have their fingerprints all over these exchanges. I, on the other hand, have access to nothing to defend myself — a convenient result of my firing. This is yet another bullying tactic: eliminate defenses by cutting off access to resources (which, here, are just the facts)."

Blanche, as well as attorney general Pam Bondi and acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, all scored their positions after serving as Trump's personal attorney, and Oyer revealed that Bondi issued a memo on her first day in office telling DOJ employees they should all consider themselves the president's lawyers.

"I would say, Mr. Blanche, that what is shameful is using the justice system to do political favors for celebrities and friends," Oyer wrote. "I would say that what is shameful is marginalizing the career employees who are working in earnest to keep our country safe and to protect our civil rights. I would say, Mr. Blanche, that the shame is on you."