Raskin Targets Jeanine Pirro and Other Prosecutors in Misconduct Probe
On August 26, Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent letters to the top federal prosecutors in five districts — the District of Columbia, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and the Northern District of Illinois — opening an inquiry into what he characterized as a pattern of Justice Department attorneys misleading federal judges. The letters single out U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s D.C. office, noting that multiple judges have questioned the candor of her attorneys and their compliance with binding court orders. Raskin also asked whether line attorneys who objected to or refused unlawful instructions have faced discipline or retaliation, a question that goes to whether internal professional-ethics constraints inside DOJ remain operative. The prosecutors were given until September 9 to respond. The episode is a notable instance of government lawyers themselves being identified as the mechanism through which judicial oversight is degraded.