Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin of the House Judiciary Committee,  and U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) demanded the Department of Justice (DOJ) provide details on the threatened use of armed Special Deputy U.S. Marshals to intimidate a fired Trump administration official ahead of her scheduled appearance before Raskin and Schiff's bicameral spotlight hearing earlier this month.

Days before former DOJ Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer was scheduled to appear before Raskin and Schiff’s spotlight hearing on the Trump administration’s attacks on the rule of law, she was informed of a plan to send two armed Marshals to her home after 9pm on a Friday night to provide a ‘warning’ about her appearance before Congress on behalf of the Attorney General and the Justice Department.

“This thuggish act is an escalation of this Administration’s attacks on career officials across the Department of Justice, as well as a blatant attempt to engage in intimidation tactics to silence former employees. Sending armed officers to Ms. Oyer’s residence is a clear abuse of the Department of Justice’s authority and resources, which exist to serve and protect the public, not intimidate congressional witnesses,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers are seeking the timeline for the decision to employ the armed Marshals in this plan, and demand the DOJ share all relevant communications related to the incident.

“As your Office advised in the April 4 letter directed to Ms. Oyer, ‘[t]o the extent Members of Congress have legitimate interests in’ seeking information relevant to decisions by the Department, ‘their requests should be directed to the Department.’ Please consider this such a request from Members of Congress related to this troubling decision,” the lawmakers added.

On April 7, Ms. Oyer testified at a bicameral spotlight hearing, led by Raskin and Schiff, about the events that led to her firing from the DOJ, the political pressure she felt to recommend a restoration of gun rights for Mel Gibson, and the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s lack of knowledge or consultation in the mass pardon of violent criminals that took part in the January 6 insurrection.

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear Deputy Attorney General Blanche:

We write to you with alarm regarding the Office of the Deputy Attorney General’s decision to send armed Special Deputy U.S. Marshals to the home of former Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer late Friday, April 4, 2025, to deliver a letter warning Ms. Oyer against appearing before Members of Congress on Monday, April 7, 2025. This thuggish act is an escalation of this Administration’s attacks on career officials across the Department of Justice, as well as a blatant attempt to engage in intimidation tactics to silence former employees. Sending armed officers to Ms. Oyer’s residence is a clear abuse of the Department of Justice’s authority and resources, which exist to serve and protect the public, not intimidate congressional witnesses.

As you well know, on March 7, 2025, the Department of Justice terminated Ms. Oyer from her position as Pardon Attorney, a nonpolitical, career position, in a three-sentence memo signed by you.  The Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a March 26, 2025, letter asking several questions about the decision to terminate Ms. Oyer, but have not received a response.  As detailed in that correspondence, Ms. Oyer was terminated hours after she refused to recommend restoring gun rights to actor Mel Gibson after he lost such rights due to a domestic violence conviction.

Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, seeking to conduct oversight and inform the public of issues relating to President Donald Trump’s attack on the rule of law, weaponization of the Department of Justice, and intimidation of federal employees and corporations, invited Ms. Oyer to speak to Members and the public at a spotlight hearing on April 7, 2025. According to Ms. Oyer, she learned on the evening of April 4 that the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (ODAG) had directed the Department of Justice’s Security and Emergency Planning Staff to have two armed Special Deputy U.S. Marshals personally serve Ms. Oyer at her home between 9pm and 10pm with a letter from Ms. Kendra Wharton of your Office,  warning Ms. Oyer about alleged risks of appearing before Members of Congress.  While the armed officers were on their way to Ms. Oyer’s personal residence, she was able to confirm receipt of the letter, precluding the hand delivery of the letter by the Deputy U.S. Marshals at her home, where her teenage child was alone. It appears that no member of your Office attempted to contact Ms. Oyer by telephone or via Ms. Oyer’s primary email address before sending these Deputy U.S. Marshals.

The decision to dispatch armed U.S. Marshals to the home of a former Department official who has not engaged in any wrongdoing just days before she was scheduled to testify before Members of Congress appears highly unusual and seems calculated to intimidate Ms. Oyer and prevent her from testifying. To help us better understand this decision and the Department’s policies for employing similar tactics, please provide answers to the following questions, no later than April 28, 2025:

1. Please provide the justification for directing Special Deputy U.S. Marshals to deliver a letter to Ms. Oyer at her personal residence. 
2. Please provide the names and roles of individuals involved in the decision to direct Special Deputy U.S. Marshals to deliver the letter to Ms. Oyer at her personal residence. 
3. Please provide all records reflecting or relating to communications between and among you, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Emil Bove, Associate Deputy Attorney General Kendra Wharton, any other Office of the Attorney General (OAG) or ODAG official, the Security and Emergency Planning Staff and any other staff in the Justice Management Division (JMD), and/or any White House official concerning the decision to direct Special Deputy U.S. Marshals to deliver the letter to Ms. Oyer at her personal residence. 
4. Please provide all records reflecting or relating to communications between and among you, Attorney General Pam Bondi, PADAG Emil Bove, Associate Deputy Attorney General Kendra Wharton, any other OAG or ODAG official, the Security and Emergency Planning Staff and any other JMD staff, and/or any White House official concerning policies or procedures relating to direction of U.S. Marshals.
5. From January 20, 2025, through the present, please provide a summary of all instances in which you or anyone in your Office has directed Special Deputy U.S. Marshals to deliver a letter to a current or former federal employee.  

As your Office advised in the April 4 letter directed to Ms. Oyer, “[t]o the extent Members of Congress have legitimate interests in” seeking information relevant to decisions by the Department, “their requests should be directed to the Department.” Please consider this such a request from Members of Congress related to this troubling decision by the Department.