In June 2023, lawyers for Donald J. Trump arrived at the Department of Justice headquarters, scooped up the visitor's badges, and arrived upstairs, asking prosecutors for details about the pressing charges against hoarding documents at Mar Arago.
Trump never faced trial and is now president. Two members of his defense team have permanent department badges as they carry out the agency's day-to-day operations.
Trump, once a target for Justice Department prosecution, is scheduled to give a major legal and order speech at the agency's conference on Friday. At least it is as much an expression of conquest and proof as it is a friendly first visit to the main Cabinet.
If he no longer owns the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump uses his speech to show that he has acquired political ownership of a more valuable property just above the street in the official Washington Quavering Heart.
Trump told White House reporters Thursday that the speech would include his idea for the department, “the full scope of policy proposals,” while his aides told White House reporters.
According to those familiar with the process, authorities plan to use wartime legal authorities as they plan to use wartime legal authorities to accelerate the deportation of undocumented migrants. The president could also announce new measures to combat the “weaponization” of the department, even if his officials use their power to punish the enemy and reward their allies.
Trump has recently called for him to demonstrate that he has promised to be good in his campaign to crack down on illegal immigration. He is likely to trumpet efforts to strengthen arrests, militarize borders, leave immigrants and rebuild a system in which people can search for sanctuaries in the United States.
He predicts confidence, but behind the scenes, his advisors are increasingly concerned about the pace of deportation and meeting voters and presidential expectations.
The president's aides have already redirected the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Bureau, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, explosives and other agencies for immigration enforcement of the Department of Justice Protection, sparking the outrage of many agents who believe they are being diverted from core law enforcement liability.
Using the ambiguous alien enemy law of 1798, we can sweep new authority to Trump to provide little or no procedure, while eliminating undocumented immigrants. The move could be contested in court – presenting a major new challenge to the Justice Department's appeals lawyers as they are already in a hurry to defend other Trump dict orders.
To achieve all this, the White House moved swiftly to assert control of the department, something Trump and his allies have long seen as the center of “deep state” resistance against him.
Emil Bove, a senior division official who was one of Trump's defense lawyers, emerged as the main enforcer of the president's will, ordered the transfer of top career prosecutors, dismantling major anti-fuel and corruption units, dismissing prosecutors who worked on the Capitol riots, and striking York Adam's request for corruption.
In justifying almost all of his actions, Bove has not introduced evidence of fraud or incompetence, citing the broad presidential authority to hire and fire under Article II of the Constitution.
Attorney General Pam Bondy is even more direct, frequently referring to the magnitude of Trump's election when he rebutted criticism of departmental moves.
Presidential visits to departmental headquarters are rare, but not unheard of.
It was first in early 1933, when President Herbert Hoover took the main side of the dedication of the building's grounds.
George W. Bush, like Barack Obama, visited twice as president.
President Bill Clinton addressed Justice Department employees a few months after taking office in 1993, saying he hopes to be “free from political controversy and political abuse.”
Clinton then pressured and asked his Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint a special advisor to investigate his involvement in Arkansas real estate transactions.
Kitty Bennett Contributed research.
