Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (April 8, 2025)—On Monday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Senator Adam Schiff, Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees led a BicameralSpotlight Hearing entitled “Restoring Accountability: Exposing Trump’s Attacks on the Rule ofLaw,” examining the Trump Administration’s pro-crime, pro-corruption agenda:

“At a time when so many voices have fallen silent, you have made the honorable decision to speak up and speak out once again. Today, your important stories will help to teach America how to stand tall against a regime of lawlessness and fear,” said Ranking MemberRaskin in his opening statement.

The hearing included testimony from: 

• Liz Oyer, the former DOJ Pardon Attorney who was fired for refusing to give special treatment to actor and Trump ally Mel Gibson and recommend the restoration of his gun rights after a domestic violence conviction;

• Ryan Crosswell, a former Department of Justice (DOJ) Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section who resigned after the Trump Administration pressured career prosecutors to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams in a corrupt quid pro quo deal:

• Rachel Cohen, a former Senior Associate at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, who resigned in protest following a string of Trump Executive Orders targeting law firms; and

• Stacey Young, an 18-year veteran of the DOJ Civil Rights Division who founded theorganization Justice Connection, to help DOJ employees who resigned or were fired.

 
Democrats in the House and Senate were forced to convene this hearing because Congressional Republicans have wholly abandoned their oversight role as Donald Trumpruns roughshod over the rule of law and amasses unprecedented executive power.

• Ranking Member Raskin explained that the witnesses at the hearing “have refused to bow down and be complicit in the way so many of our Republican colleagues have been complicit. The President fires dozens of DOJ lawyers simply for doing their jobs and prosecuting the January 6th insurrectionists who violently assaulted and wounded more than 140 of our police officers. The Republicans say nothing about this illegal mass firing. The President issues Executive Orders banning disfavored lawyers and law firms from federal buildings, federal courthouses, federal employment and federal security clearances unless they offer blind loyalty and millions of dollars in pro bono services for his pro malum causes. The Republicans say nothing about this outrageous illegal shakedown even though it has been invalidated by the courts under the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments.”

• Senator Adam Schiff said, “Convening this hearing was not our first choice. We have tried to get our Republican colleagues to hold hearings, to do meaningful oversight, to assert Congress’s authority as an independent branch of government. But to our great disappointment, our Republican colleagues have abdicated that important responsibility. They have stood by as the President has run roughshod over the legislative branch and turned Congress into little more than a rubber stamp. […] So today, we will do theinvestigative work that our colleagues across the aisle refuse to do.”

• Rep. Becca Balint said, “It’s not easy to stand up and speak out against authoritarians. It’s not easy to stand up and speak against the President. All you have to do is look at our Republican colleagues, both in the House and in the Senate, who are remaining silent.”

Witnesses testified about how the DOJ is being weaponized to carry out Trump’s personal political agenda, protecting his criminal friends while unjustly persecuting his perceived enemies.

• Ranking Member Raskin said: “Ms. Oyer, I understand the Deputy Attorney General tried to send armed Marshals to your home at night to deliver a clear message: do not speak up at today’s hearing. And yet you are here today, undaunted and unbowed, proving to [Todd] Blanche and any other Trump official that you can’t bully and silence everyone.”

• Ms. Oyer said: “[The Deputy Attorney General’s] letter was a warning to me about therisks of testifying here today. But I am here because I will not be bullied into concealing the ongoing corruption and abuse of power at the Department of Justice. DOJ is entrusted with keeping us safe, upholding the rule of law and protecting our civil rights. It is not a personal favor bank for the President.”

• Rep. Hank Johnson asked Mr. Crosswell to discuss the Trump DOJ’s efforts to intimidate lawyers in the Public Integrity Section into dismissing the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams. Mr. Crosswell explained, “I think it was very, very much implied, not stated, that there would be promotion opportunities for anyone that would sign the motion. And I also think it’s very fair to say there was an implicit threat for those that wouldn’t.”

• On the Trump Administration’s lawless quid pro quo with Mayor Adams, Mr. Crosswell said: “The message that this sent, intentionally or unintentionally, was that public officials may be prosecuted or may be protected from prosecution as long as they are politically aligned with the Trump Administration.” Mr. Crosswell added: “This action raised a […] chilling question: Is a Justice Department that will drop charges against those who acquiesced to a political demand [also] a Justice Department that will bring charges against those who don’t?”

• Ms. Oyer explained how Donald Trump pardoned hundreds of January 6^thinsurrectionists, including those who were convicted of assaulting law enforcement, without consulting the expert lawyers in the Office of the Pardon Attorney. She said, “I learned about those pardons on the news, just like every other American.”

Democrats made clear that Donald Trump is gutting the Department of Justice to fill it with prosecutors and employees more loyal to him than to the U.S. Constitution.

• Rep. Johnson said: “Trump has turned the Department of Justice into the Department ofInjustice. He effected this transformation by installing sycophantic loyalists and purging career employees whose only offense was adherence to the rule of law—good people like our witnesses here. But even purging career employees is not enough for a tyrant; a tyrannical leader like Trump must also intimidate people to ensure their silence.”

• In response to a question from Senator Amy Klobuchar, Ms. Oyer said: “It’s very concerning that the Department [of Justice] is currently being run by people, all of whom represented the President personally. There are certain decision-making authorities of theDepartment that have been delegated to people who personally represented the President, including oversight of matters of ethics and professional responsibility. That’s evidenced inthe letter that was sent to me, which was sent to me by someone who was one of President Trump’s personal defense attorneys. This is a way of stripping away any of the safeguards against the tremendous powers of the Department of Justice.”

• Rep. Chuy Garcia explained how the Trump Administration suspended the DOJ attorney who represented the Administration in federal court proceedings regarding the deportation of a Maryland to a mega-prison in El Salvador, after the court ruled against the Administration. Ms. Young replied that the DOJ attorney’s actions do not warrant suspension, adding, “It tells me that [the Administration] values loyalty over the law, and I question DOJ’s credibility right now.”

• Rep. Balint said, “Authoritarians like Trump […] mock the principle of accountability because they have none.”

Democrats emphasized that Donald Trump is launching a full-scale attack on private lawfirms to block his perceived enemies from gaining access to counsel and ensure private firms do not challenge his illegal policies in court.

• Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said: “Over the past few weeks, the White House has unleashed an unprecedented attack upon lawyers and judges who serve our American justice system, with the White House attempting to suppress challenges to the lawless orders that it is issuing. They’re threatening and intimidating some of the country’s most accomplished lawyers, some of whom are with us here today. Congress, under Republican leadership, has thus far acquiesced to this lawless behavior.” […]  Rep. Scanlon added: “This administration is employing the tactics used by authoritarian regimes to crack down onthose who defend the rule of law, places like lawyers, universities, civil society and theindependent media.”