Prosecutors from the Justice Department’s division focused on handling public corruption cases have been informed that the unit will experience a major reduction in size and that its ongoing cases will be reassigned to U.S. attorney’s offices throughout the nation, according to two individuals familiar with the situation.
This anticipated downsizing of the public integrity section comes just weeks after leadership of the unit resigned when a senior Justice Department official decided to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
At the close of the Biden administration, the section, established in 1976 post-Watergate to manage criminal prosecutions of federal public corruption cases, housed approximately 30 prosecutors. Now, prosecutors have been asked to consider new roles within the department. It is suggested that only a handful of lawyers might remain in the section, with U.S. attorney’s offices expected to assume responsibility for the current cases, said the individuals, who requested anonymity as they were unauthorized to discuss the matter publicly.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department remarked Tuesday that leadership is “taking a broad look” at the agency’s allocation of resources, yet emphasized that no final decisions concerning the future of the public integrity section have been finalized.
This development appears to be a facet of a broader effort by the Trump administration aiming to weaken or dismantle mechanisms designed for upholding ethical governance and fair business and political practices. Already, the Justice Department has halted the enforcement of a longstanding law that prevents American businesses from bribing foreign governments to secure contracts and has moved to dismiss high-profile public integrity cases, including those against Adams and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, both Democrats.
Besides prosecuting misconduct by public officials, the section supervises the department’s activities concerning election crimes such as voter fraud and campaign finance violations. Under the Biden administration, it was also responsible for the election threats task force, established to address growing threats of violence against poll workers.
The section has been bereft of leadership since five supervisors quit last month due to the uproar pertaining to the Adams case. Among those who resigned were its acting chief, three deputy chiefs, and a deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division overseeing the section. They stepped down following the mandate from then-Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to abandon the case.
Bove later organized a meeting with the section’s prosecutors, offering them an hour to choose two individuals willing to endorse the motion to dismiss, promising promotional opportunities for those who complied. After this meeting, the general consensus among the prosecutors was a collective resignation. However, a seasoned prosecutor decided to sign the motion, concerned for the employment of younger unit members.
Historically, this division has been one of the most esteemed within the department, boasting notable alumni such as former Attorney General Eric Holder, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and Jack Smith, who led the division before being appointed as special counsel to investigate President Donald Trump.
The section faced reputational damage following the mishandled prosecution of late Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, a case dropped in 2009 after a federal judge concluded that prosecutors had not disclosed evidence favorable to the defense.
Jack Smith was appointed in 2010 to restore the section’s standing and led the unit through a sequence of high-profile yet occasionally unsuccessful corruption prosecutions, including those of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican, and former Democratic Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.
