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An archive of resignation letters has offered a glimpse into the experiences of Justice Department employees who have left or been dismissed under the Trump administration.
The messages, published by the advocacy group Justice Connection, include notes from senior officials who say they were forced out or quit rather than carry out orders they viewed as politically motivated.
- About 5,500 DOJ employees left under Trump via resignations, firings, or buyouts, with 200 direct removals, including 80 immigration judges.
- Resignation letters reveal officials quitting over politically motivated orders, highlighting fear and threats to DOJ independence.
- Maurene Comey warned that firing career prosecutors fuels fear and suppresses independent thought within the Justice Department.
According to data from the group, which was set up earlier this year by DOJ alumni, about 5,500 Justice Department employees have left through resignations, firings, or buyouts.
An estimated 5,500 employees have left the DOJ under the Trump administration
Image credits: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
At least 200 of those were direct removals—including roughly 80 immigration judges, figures tracked by Justice Connection show.
Peter Carr, a DOJ public affairs specialist who was fired earlier this year, is now a spokesperson for the advocacy group. He told CBS News that the resignation letters and farewell messages that have been collated show what is happening across the U.S.
“These messages are from people who are trying to encapsulate the thought of losing their careers,” Carr said. “Somebody needed to capture all of these letters, so that they’re not lost to history.”
One message on the page was written by Maurene Comey, a former top federal prosecutor and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey.
Image credits: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Comey, who was fired from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan in July, had worked on major cases, including those involving Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and most recently, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. . . . Do not let that happen,” Comey’s entry read.
“Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought,” she added. “Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place.”
Hagan Scotten, who resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in protest of an order to dismiss the DOJ’s indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, left a scathing farewell message.
Image credits: Justice Connection
“[A]ny assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way. If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me,” Scotten wrote.
Michael Feinberg, who was assistant special agent in charge at the Norfolk field office, was forced to resign in June.
“It’s particularly concerning to me, as someone who dedicated his professional career to combating the Chinese Communist Party and all of its tentacles, to see resources and efforts diverted away from hostile foreign intelligence services and other serious threats to the homeland to focus on minor immigration status offenses,” Feinberg warned.
“These changes should discomfit any citizen who cares about his or her nation; even now that I no longer walk into a field office every morning, these trends still vex me.”
Career officials described being pushed out of the department
Image credits: Justice Connection
Anam Rahman Petit, an immigration judge who was reportedly terminated without cause, also raised concerns about Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
“Replacing career judges with less experienced or politically malleable ones reflects a systemic effort to reshape the bench with individuals more likely to deny cases without regard for due process,” Petit said.
“Removal proceedings demand qualified judges who understand both the law and the stakes. Wrong denials can carry devastating consequences: family separation, deportation to danger, and violations of core constitutional rights.”
Other officials sent messages of gratitude to former colleagues and law enforcement officials.
Image credits: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Greg Rosen was head of the unit that prosecuted Capitol riot cases. He resigned from his post in May, writing, “To those who partnered with me on the January 6 investigation and prosecution: you represent the highest ideals of our nation—unwavering in your commitment to the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power.
“To the officers who were injured, physically and emotionally, protecting the greatest legislative body in the world: thank you. You are the embodiment of heroism.”
Some of those who were fired have now come forward to explain why collecting farewell messages matters, saying the letters capture their experiences and preserve a record of what happened.
Patty Hartman, who was dismissed from her communications role at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., in April, told CBS News she wanted to share a message with her colleagues after losing access to her government-issued phone and computer.
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“The people in charge who are supposed to protect us—our fellow Americans who we elected, along with those who were appointed, and swore an OATH to protect this nation and our Constitution—now use the Constitution as a weapon to suit their own ends,” Hartman’s farewell message said.
“When someone disappears from the office without notice, there’s a tendency to think they did something wrong,” she told CBS News. “It was important for me to publicly acknowledge my illegal termination because so many others were experiencing it and, quite frankly, I was pissed off.”
When contacted by CBS News, the Justice Department refused to comment on the archive, resignations, or firings at the department.
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