A former prosecutor forced off a murder case for peeking at defense strategy documents. A onetime gambling executive who promoted conspiracy theories about the Las Vegas massacre in 2017. A Florida activist who served 20 days in jail for hacking a local elections system. They are among the 130 lawyers who recently joined the Justice Department’s short-staffed civil rights division as the Trump administration struggles to fill depleted ranks.
Since early 2025, upward of 300 nonpolitical career employees have left the division after its leader, Harmeet Dhillon, repurposed it to pursue President Trump’s agenda. The division has opened doors to recruits, many conservatives, some with histories that might have disqualified them in the past, former officials said. Department officials said they rejected nearly as many applicants as hired, 126.
Dhillon praised the new lawyers, stating, “We are hiring trial lawyers... The attorneys The Times singled out have collectively tried hundreds of cases.” Among top hires: gun rights activist Barry Arrington, acting chief of a new Second Amendment unit, and Eric Neff, temporary leader of the voting section, who tried 50 criminal cases but left the Los Angeles County prosecutor’s office amid rancor and a $5 million settlement.
Critics raised questions about lawyers assigned to voter fraud crackdowns, including an unsuccessful effort to obtain state voter roll information and deployment of 1,000 election monitors. A department spokeswoman defended Neff, citing his experience and 50 jury trials.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing