- Two watchdog offices inside the Justice Department are tasked with investigating misconduct
- Both have seen significant staff departures under Trump, partly from efforts to shrink government
- Complaints to one watchdog hit a 20-year high while investigations hit a 20-year low
Reuters – “In one courtroom after another, federal judges have accused U.S. President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of an extraordinary spate of misconduct, including making false statements, failing to comply with court orders and improperly using the legal system to harass political opponents. Such rebukes might be expected to trigger a flurry of activity within the department’s two internal watchdogs tasked with policing the government’s most powerful law-enforcement agency.
But shrinking staffs and fears of political retribution have largely sidelined the offices, limiting new investigations into the administration, according to Reuters interviews with four former DOJ staffers and a review of department employment and investigations data. Nearly half the workforce at the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has left during Trump’s second term, while about 17% have departed the Office of Inspector General, government records show. Many retired or took buyouts the
administration offered to shrink the federal workforce, according to the records and three people familiar with the departures. The number of new OPR investigations has declined to a 20-year low even as misconduct complaints soar, the review found.
The government watchdogs are “afraid of doing any watching,” said one former DOJ official who left last year. Details of the watchdogs’ diminished staffing and declining investigations have not previously been reported. OPR investigates misconduct by department lawyers while the inspector general probes waste, fraud, abuse and other wrongdoing departmentwide.
OPR does not disclose who it investigates and the inspector general conducts much of its work in secret. But the four former DOJ employees said the staff departures and the slower pace of investigations make clear that they are not adequately addressing the surge of allegations facing the department. Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels said OPR “remains committed to ensuring accountability for all DOJ attorneys” and rigorously investigates misconduct allegations.
John Lavinsky, a spokesperson for the DOJ Inspector General, said the office is committed to independent oversight and does not “avoid investigations or reviews that are difficult or controversial.”
factcheck.org
FactCheck.org: “Every election cycle since 2010, we have published profiles of some of the many outside groups trying to influence who gets elected to Congress and the White House. Today, we’re launching our latest Players Guide with write-ups of eight of the biggest spenders so far for the 2026 midterms.
Each profile has information about the individuals who run the group, the people funding the group, the group’s political leanings and motivations, and how the group is spending the millions it has raised. If the group has been around for a while, we note its spending during the prior election cycle for comparison.
During the last midterm cycle, outside groups collectively spent $2 billion on independent expenditures, which are advertisements and other communications that expressly advocate for or against candidates for office, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks money in politics. The total was double that amount for the 2024 presidential cycle.
The eight groups we’re starting with this time include the Senate Majority PAC, which is trying to help Democrats retake control of the Senate, and the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is working to keep Republicans running the House of Representatives. We also highlighted Fairshake, a pro-cryptocurrency super PAC that backs or opposes candidates based on whether they appear to be for or against policies favorable to the digital currency industry..”
