Former US Attorney Harry Litman on Monday detailed how Justice Department staff are feeling ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
And it’s not good, he told CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe.
Multiple criminal cases against the president-elect have been dismissed following his election victory over Democratic rival Kamala Harris, sentencing in his hush-money case was postponed, and Trump has selected loyalist Pam Bondi as attorney general, following former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla. .) The nomination fell through due to increasing scrutiny of sexual misconduct allegations.
O’Keefe asked Litman, “What is it like for the career attorneys at the Department of Justice who are seeing these cases fall apart? Are they demoralized by this, or are they like, “Well, those are the rules. Should we just do what the rules say?’”
Litman said, “No, this is not a ‘It’s the rules as usual’ situation.”
“You know, it’s not simply these cases that are falling apart, but the assertion of the president’s power to make them fall apart and other things that are being considered for the DOJ,” he added.
Litman highlighted “really demoralized career workers, people who are putting their resumes out on the street, people who are really afraid of what Trump’s accession will mean for the storied DOJ function of doing justice without fear or favor.”
“This is the worst crisis I have ever seen in DOJ history,” he added.
O’Keefe suggested it’s “exactly how the president-elect wants it to some extent.” “He’s trying to disrupt the federal government. You might as well start with the Department of Justice,” he added.
Watch the full exchange here: