While Judge Ho ultimately agreed to throw out the charges, he took a swipe at the #DOJ’s #credibility, saying it appeared as though officials had used their #power in a #QuidProQuo with #EricAdams to get him to support #Trump’s #immigration crackdown in the city.

“Everything here smacks of a bargain,” he wrote. “Dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”

…#judges have also questioned the #DOJ’s motives in a handful of politically sensitive cases that officials have sought to dismiss — sometimes against the will of the prosecutors working on them day-to-day.

In a sweeping opinion issued in April, Judge Dale E. Ho of Federal District Court in Manhattan rejected as false the reasons the DOJ gave for dismissing #bribery charges against Mayor #EricAdams of New York.

Before the hearing…Judge Xinis had spent weeks trying to get the #DOJ to comply with her orders in the case—& then to answer questions about why they had been flouted in the first place.
She finally lost all patience after…the…lawyers failed to give her a straight answer about what the #Trump admin planned to do w/Abrego Garcia after he was brought back from El Salvador….
“This has been the process from Day 1,”Judge Xinis said. “You have taken the presumption of regularity &…destroyed it….”
#law

“These norms being broken must have consequences,” Judge Faruqui concluded. “High deference is out; trust but verify is in.”

All of this echoed the explosive remarks made from the bench last month by Judge Paula Xinis, who lashed out at the #DOJ during a hearing in the case of #KilmarAbregoGarcia, the immigrant wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March.

After all, as the judge pointed out, #DOJ #lawyers under #Trump have done much to destroy the confidence normally afforded them in #court.

They have fired prosecutors who worked on Trump’s 2 criminal cases, he said. They have attacked the charges brought against the rioters who stormed the Capitol on #Jan6, 2021, as a witch hunt. And they have violated judicial orders in cases stemming from Trump’s #deportation policies & from his efforts to freeze federal grants.

While it is impossible to know for sure how deeply this #distrust has set in among #judges across the country, a number of judges in recent weeks have openly questioned the fundamental honesty & credibility of #DOJ #lawyers in ways that would have been unthinkable only months ago.

The dissolution of these traditional bonds of trust — known in #legal circles as the presumption of regularity — goes well beyond #judges’ use of blunt words — “egregious,” “brazen,” “lawless” — to describe the various parts of #Trump’s #power-grabbing policy agenda.

Ultimately, legal experts say, the actions that caused such doubts among judges about the #DOJ & those who represent it could have a more systemic effect & erode the healthy functioning of the #courts.

It was also not clear what precise claims of misconduct #Trump admin officials believe could form the basis of #criminal charges, which a #GrandJury would have to sign off on for an #indictment to be issued.

The development is likely to heighten concerns that the #DOJ is being used to achieve #political ends given longstanding grievances over the #Russia investigation voiced by Trump, who has called for the jailing of perceived political adversaries…

Another *victim asked Berman to have a third party review any documents to ensure no victims’ names or likenesses are revealed through the process, saying that it appeared the #DOJ’s priority is to protect “wealthy men.”

“To learn that our own president has utilized thousands of agents to protect his identity & these high-profile individuals is monumentally mind-blowing,” the victim wrote. “That is their focus? Wow!”

The #US on July 18 asked US District Judges Richard M. Berman & Paul Engelmayer to release transcripts of the proceedings in the case against #Epstein & his associate, #GhislaineMaxwell, & both judges have given *victims until Tuesday to respond to the requests.

Natalie Baldassarre, a spox for the #DOJ declined to comment. #Trump has acknowledged a friendship with Epstein, but says it ended years before Epstein’s death.

In one of the letters, an #Epstein victim [#survivor] said they were writing “in disdain, disgust & fear” of how the #DOJ has dealt with the promise to release information in the case, saying the situation should have been handled with “more respect towards & for the victims.”

#law #Trump #JeffreyEpstein #CoverUp #RapistInChief #criminal #rape #ChildSexCrimes #BelieveSurvivors
https://archive.is/2025.08.04-205758/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-04/epstein-victims-express-disgust-and-fear-at-handling-of-files

The unit, the Special Litigation Section, has seen a dramatic reduction in lawyers since #Trump took office in Jan. Court records show at least 7 attorneys working on the lawsuits against #Louisiana & #SouthCarolina are no longer with the #DOJ.

The section had >90 employees at the start of the year, including about 60 front-line attorneys. By June, it had about 25, including around 15 front-line lawyers….

…The cases against #Louisiana & #SouthCarolina were brought by a unit of the #DOJ’s #CivilRights Division tasked with enforcing laws that guarantee #ReligiousFreedom, access to #ReproductiveHealth services, constitutional policing, & the rights of people in state & local institutions, including #jails, #prisons & #healthcare facilities for people with #disabilities.