Newly minted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a lengthy memo shortly after being sworn in earlier Wednesday, which will take the Justice Department in a completely different direction than under former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris. According to Fox News, the memo lays out Bondi’s vision for the DOJ, which includes a heavy focus on President Donald Trump’s agenda for illegal immigration, federal law enforcement, and ridding the department of blatant political bias.
According to the memo, Bondi announced that Joint Task Force Vulcan, created to dismantle MS-13, and Joint Task Force Alpha, established to combat human trafficking, would be “further empowered and elevated” to the Office of the Attorney General. These missions are expected to expand, with a particular emphasis on Vulcan’s efforts, which will now focus on dismantling Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
On the cartel front, Bondi is directing the DOJ Office of Legal Policy to explore legislative reforms aimed at targeting equipment used to manufacture fentanyl pills and to add Xylazine, a new and deadly drug, to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. Regarding illegal migrants, Bondi has instructed the DOJ to suspend all federal funding for sanctuary cities. Additionally, Bondi has directed the DOJ to identify and review all funding agreements with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that provide support to illegal immigrants.
Bondi issued a directive regarding “zealous advocacy.” Bondi said DOJ attorneys’ responsibilities include “aggressively enforcing criminal laws passed by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions on behalf of the United States against legal challenges.” It added: “The discretion afforded Justice Department attorneys with respect to those responsibilities does not include latitude to substitute their personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election.”
“When Justice Department attorneys refuse to faithfully carry out their role by, for example, refusing to advance good-faith arguments or declining to sign briefs, it undermines the constitutional order and deprives the President of the benefit of his lawyers,” the memo continues. Bondi also states that “any Justice Department attorney who declines to sign a brief, refuses to advance good-faith arguments on behalf of the Trump administration, or otherwise delays or impedes the Justice Department’s mission will be subject to discipline and potentially termination.”
Bondi is also preparing to establish the “Weaponization Working Group,” which will examine the activities of all law enforcement agencies over the past four years to identify instances of “politicized justice.” The group’s initial reviews will focus on prosecutions against Trump led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the civil fraud case against Trump and his family, Fox said, citing the memo.
The working group will also investigate potential prosecutorial abuses related to the January 6, 2021 events, the FBI’s targeting of Catholic Americans, the Justice Department’s actions against parents at school board meetings, and violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Meanwhile, Bondi will lift the moratorium on federal executions and instruct federal prosecutors at the Department of Justice, including U.S. attorneys’ offices, to seek the death penalty when appropriate, particularly in cases involving violent drug trafficking crimes.
Bondi also directed the Justice Department to “re-evaluate instances where the prior administration chose not to pursue the death penalty.” Additionally, Bondi is expected to rescind any DOJ policies that are “not sufficiently aligned with President Trump’s death penalty executive order.”
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