On Wednesday, newly sworn-in Attorney General Pam Bondi issued over a dozen orders that shuttered department task forces, restored the federal death penalty and, above all else, mandated obedience to president Donald Trump’s agenda, the New York Times reports. Among the memos issued to staff, Bondi created a working group to review the “weaponization” of the criminal justice system by officials who had brought criminal charges or civil suits against Trump. Little information was given about the new working group’s mandate, members or powers — or how it squared with another memo she signed on Wednesday ending political “weaponization” at the department. It will be overseen by Bondi, her top aides, and the political leadership of the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington and the department’s repurposed civil rights division.
Buried in the pile of memos were three significant national security actions, which could weaken efforts to combat foreign influence in U.S. elections, the economy and infrastructure: the disbanding of a foreign influence task force, new limitations on prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and the shutdown of a foreign corporate enforcement unit. Other memos included a rollback of environmental regulations, a threat to withhold department funding to sanctuary cities that obstruct immigration enforcement, a blueprint for enforcing Trump’s nullification of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and a task force to study President Biden’s commutation of inmates on death row. Bondi also vowed to take action against officials who “substitute their personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election.”
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