An attorney who is assisting President-elect Donald Trump’s transition in the Department of Justice delivered a warning to employees who contest Trump’s agenda.
Mark Paoletta, general counsel for the last Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget, wrote a message on X detailing the president-elect’s agenda and that anyone who resists it “should leave.”
“Of course, no one will push them to implement flagrantly illegal actions like President Biden did with his student loan plan, where he thumbed his nose at the Supreme Court’s ruling and then tried to implement another illegal plan which was struck down,” he said. “I don’t recall reading any stories about career attorneys being concerned about working on this blatantly illegal action. If these career DOJ employees won’t implement President Trump’s program in good faith, they should leave. Those employees who engage in so-called ‘resistance’ against the duly-elected President’s lawful agenda would be subverting American democracy.”
“Finally, those that take such actions would be subject to disciplinary measures, including termination,” he added.
Reports came out following Trump’s election that officials at the DOJ could clear out. “Everyone I’ve talked to, mostly lawyers, are losing their minds,” one DOJ attorney told Politico. “The fear is that career leadership and career employees everywhere are either going to leave or they’re going to be driven out.”
Paoletta also said in his message that the administration would be issuing pardons and commutations “to January 6th defendants and other defendants who have been subjected to politically-driven lawfare prosecutions and sentences.”
The Department of Justice under President Joe Biden hasn’t hesitated to prosecute those involved with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol storming, with about 1,561 defendants federally charged.
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Mike Davis, an attorney rumored to be a candidate for the Trump administration’s attorney general, chimed in on Paoletta’s remarks, noting the demand that attorneys be on board with the administration’s agenda is not out of the ordinary.
“Justice Department employees work for the President of the United States, who is elected by all Americans,” he posted on X. “Their job is to carry out his lawful orders. If they have a policy disagreement with him, they can always resign and run for Congress. But they should not obstruct justice by undermining his orders.”