The civil rights division used to be the crown jewel of the Justice Department. Now, because of the department's unbounded commitment to implement President Trump’s agenda, it is a profound embarrassment — or it would be, if the ideological rigidity of the department’s leadership were not such effective armor against that discomfort.

I have practiced law in Washington, D.C. for more than 45 years. In the Clinton White House, I was the liaison between the White House counsel’s office and the Justice Department. I served during the Obama administration in the deputy attorney general’s office, and in the civil rights division from 2022 until January 2025. In addition, over many years in private practice, I dealt frequently with the department, including in the aftermath of Watergate, and then under Reagan, both Bushes, and Trump.

I can say with certainty that the current assault on civil rights is not normal, and that this is not a proper way to run a law enforcement agency.

Although past Republican administrations have been accused of neglecting civil rights, none exhibited the Trump administration's destructive, nihilist hostility toward civil rights. Even if the department did not always combat racial discrimination with the vigor that critics wanted, at least it did not reflexively oppose such enforcement at the insistence of political taskmasters.

The Justice Department has always followed broad policy cues from the White House. But the Department has steadfastly cordoned off its enforcement decisions. I recall, when........

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