DoJ lawyers quit, face retaliation as Trump’s purge fuels internal resistance

President Donald Trump’s overhaul of the Justice Department has triggered a cascade of high-profile departures and punitive actions among its lawyers. Civil Rights Division attorney Stacey Young quit immediately after Trump’s inauguration, citing his promise to punish opponents and a right-wing “Project 2025” plan to make civil servants at-will. Former officials Celia Cohen and Danielle Sassoon resigned rather than obey Trump’s order to halt the prosecution of Mayor Eric Adams for alleged bribery.

In March 2025, ex-assistant U.S. attorney Alexander Kristofcak posted a letter from interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin threatening to bar Georgetown Law graduates unless the school ended its diversity-equity-inclusion programs; the D.C. Bar opened a disciplinary case and Kristofcak was placed on leave. Matthew Evans, a Minnesota assistant U.S. attorney, was dismissed after objecting to the minimal charges against an ICE officer who shot an unarmed immigrant, and is now under criminal investigation for alleged leaks. The article warns that such retaliation may deter future lawyers, especially Black women, from joining the DOJ.