The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly reassigned several senior officials across various departments ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected confirmation of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s nomination.
Fox News reports that multiple career employees in the Justice Department’s criminal and national security divisions have been removed from their current posts and reassigned.
Although it is difficult to dismiss a general employee for “reason,” reassignment is possible and appears to be happening.
Among those transferred to other positions within the Justice Department was Bruce Schwartz, the head of the Interior Department, which handles extradition matters, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The source told the news agency that about 20 employees have been reassigned.
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Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Justice Department attorney general, will be sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 15. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
George Toskas is also reportedly a veteran assistant attorney general in the national security division who has helped oversee large-scale terrorism and espionage investigations as well as politically motivated investigations over the past decade. He was also the central figure in the investigation.
Mr. Toskas was involved in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, and the investigation into Mr. Trump’s possession of classified documents.
Toskas’ reassignment was confirmed to The Associated Press by another person familiar with the matter.
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“He’s seen everything in both counterterrorism and counterintelligence,” a former colleague of Mr. Toskas’s, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post. “No one in this department knows more about prosecuting and investigating terrorists and spies than George Toskas.”
The Washington Post also learned from sources familiar with the matter that Choi Eun-young, another assistant attorney general in the national security sector, has been reassigned within the department and was notified of the move via email on Monday afternoon. He also revealed that he had received it.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the changes.
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Department of Justice in Washington, DC (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Hours after Trump took the oath of office, the Justice Department fired at least four senior officials from the division that runs the now-backlogged immigration courts.
The Washington Post reported that under federal guidelines, there is a 120-day moratorium on some staff reassignments after newly confirmed leaders begin their appointments. Bondi has not yet been confirmed. Therefore, the moratorium has not yet taken effect in the Department of Justice.
Currently, James McHenry is running the Justice Department as acting attorney general after Merrick Garland left the department on Friday.
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The reason for the move was not immediately known, but it is common for new administrations to appoint their own hires to lead the Justice Department.
The move could also foreshadow further changes, given President Trump’s interest in the department. The department investigated the department during the president’s first term and indicted him twice last year in separate cases, but the charges never went to trial and were dropped after the president won the November election.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and @GregWehner on Twitter.
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