Danger of losing public confidence
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has fired hundreds of nonpartisan career lawyers from its ranks, many of whom with links to cases Trump disagreed with from past administrations.
They include more than a dozen lawyers who investigated crimes related to the riot on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to protest his 2020 election defeat.
Experts warn that the purge of career professionals within the department will have immediate consequences, leaving a dearth of experience that will be difficult to replace.
The tumbling numbers of employees could also result in fewer prosecutions and slower timelines.
“The work has slowed down in many critical parts of our department,” Young, the former Justice Department employee, explained.
Experts also question whether the concept of the nonpartisan prosecutor will endure.
In a February memo, Bondi told Department of Justice employees that their role was to “zealously advance, protect and defend” the interests of the president, whom she referred to as their “client”.
The shifting expectations about what a federal prosecutor should do have not only transformed the Justice Department’s relationship with the White House but also the court system.
At times, over the past year, federal judges have scolded Justice Department representatives for stretching the truth or outright lying.
In February, for instance, District Judge Tanya Chutkan reminded department lawyers “of their duty to make truthful representations to the court”.
In November, Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick also warned that recent misstatements and missteps in the Comey case “may rise to the level of government misconduct”.
Legal experts like Sklansky fear the result will ultimately be a partisan system that craters public trust in the judicial process.
“The low repute of the judicial system today — not just the Justice Department but the courts as well — is something new. It’s a departure from anything I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Sklansky said.
“The danger is that we will lose confidence in a system that’s designed to help us live together across ideological boundaries.”