DOJ Mulls Changes to Approval Process in Public Corruption Cases

The Justice Department is reviewing its policies that require prosecutors to get approval from the headquarters-based public integrity section before charging federal lawmakers with a crime.

Changes to those provisions, if adopted, could cut the section’s career attorneys out of the process in high-profile criminal cases against elected officials—and remove or weaken a guard against political influence in these cases. The section’s attorneys work through multiple political administrations and specialize in public corruption cases against elected officials.

The Washington Post first reported the Justice Department is considering no longer requiring federal prosecutors to obtain approval from the section before bringing charges against members of Congress, and no longer requiring them to consult with those career lawyers during investigations.

A DOJ official, asked about the report, said that provisions in several sections of the department’s manual are “under review” and that “no final decisions have been made.”

The official said the review aims to “to ensure that equal responsibility is held in the field” at US attorney’s offices “as opposed to centralizing all authority” in the public integrity section, known as PIN.

The Justice Department is considering the policy change as it looks to move more resources and decisionmaking outside of Washington.

In late March, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche circulated a memo that proposed reorganizing the agency, including reassigning most personnel in the public integrity section to US attorney’s offices. The memo proposed “maintaining a core team of supervisory attorneys to administer relevant provisions of the Justice Manual.”

The section has already undergone significant overhaul in the first months of the Trump administration. Corey Amundson, a longtime DOJ lawyer who headed the unit since 2019, resigned in January rather than move to a new sanctuary cities enforcement initiative.

Multiple senior officials also quit after being ordered to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

The proposal also comes as several Democratic lawmakers face possible criminal charges for their conduct at an immigration detention facility in New Jersey earlier this month.

Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, was arrested for trespassing after protesting at the facility. The Department of Homeland Security has also accused New Jersey Democrats Reps. Rob Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman of “storming” the detention facility.

Blanche previously demurred when asked by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during the Senate confirmation process if he would abide by the public integrity section’s consultation requirements.

Blanche responded in writing that he “will familiarize myself with all memoranda and policies governing the Deputy Attorney General and will comply with their requirements.”