Skip to content

ProPublica: Federal judges chastise Trump's Justice Department

newsJul 28, 2026446,025

ProPublica reviewed hundreds of federal cases since Donald Trump retook the White House and found judges across the country calling Department of Justice lawyers’ conduct “unlawful,” “unethical,” and “unseemly.” Judges nominated by presidents of both parties explicitly questioned the presumption of regularity in more than 40 cases, saying they can no longer take government representations at face value. Former federal Judge John E. Jones told ProPublica that he has not seen anything like this in DOJ history. In a May Rhode Island case, Trump-appointed Judge Mary McElroy quashed prosecutors’ subpoenas in an investigation of a hospital’s care of transgender children, saying prosecutors had withheld information and misrepresented facts. The article ties the surge in judicial rebukes to an exodus of veteran DOJ lawyers and a shift in departmental priorities toward mass deportation and politically charged enforcement. ProPublica notes judges are using unusually forceful language in their orders, which scholars say signals that the judiciary is losing trust in the Justice Department. None of the judges who criticized the DOJ for these actions granted interviews to ProPublica.

ProPublica
@propublica.org

NEW: ProPublica reviewed hundreds of cases in which judges criticized the actions of Justice Department lawyers. We found judges nominated by both parties who are frustrated that they can no longer take the government at its word.

126645d ago
Quoting this
Katiesaurus298

"In one case, the government included documentation claiming a detainee had been convicted of marijuana possession in 2009. That detainee, the judge noted, citing what she called the government’s persistent 'sloppiness,' would have been 4 years old."

ⓘ 𝕆ligarch f*ckery detected11

To think, it took only about a year for the government to lose all credibility.

Paulette Donahue9

Trump has done so much real damage

Matthew Guariglia6

From cops pushing AI written police reports with obvious mistakes in them, to DOJ lawyers making stuff up, I hope there’s a judge’s revolt against some of this tomfoolery.

lavidalocaese.bsky.social4

THIS. Kinda says it all. Maybe if there were more of We The People handing out justice, more judges would do more than "criticize" DOJ lawyers. #FDT

Mary Noon3

As are the rest of us. #resist

klprice.bsky.social2

Felon47 says HE'S the only law now. How much more will we let him get away with?

Peter Turner2

In Trump's regime the Justice Department is generally untrustworthy say many judges.

Joeskid2

There seems to be a consensus that this DOJ is unreliable and untrustworthy. Todd Blanche, who's the man leading it while Pam Bondi did interviews, should not be confirmed. Trump will ignore it and do a recess appointment. He probably directed Mike Johnson to recess asap just for that purpose.

Fast Fingers Audit2

Then judges need to start throwing over my lawyers in the hiding cell instead of aiding and abetting this regime by allowing the lawyers to go back out and screw more lives over.

1 source