US Justice Department Ethics Officer Reassigned, Insider Reports 

United States: The Justice Department caused concern when it removed their senior career-based ethics official from their position. Internal sources indicate that the official has been moved to operate within a new “sanctuary cities” working group based at the Office of the Associate Attorney General, as reported by Reuters. 

Weinsheimer and a department spokesperson refrained from providing any comments about the reassignment decision. 

Broad Reassignments Across Key Divisions 

The shake-up extends beyond ethics oversight, with dozens of top career officials reassigned from critical divisions, including National Security, Civil Rights, Criminal, and Environment and Natural Resources. Among those affected is Corey Amundson, a senior official who oversaw public corruption and election fraud investigations. 

Amundson, who was also reassigned, has since resigned from the department. His resignation letter did not reference his reassignment. 

The US Justice Department's senior career official overseeing public corruption and other politically sensitive investigations resigned after the Trump administration tried to re-assign him to a new role working on immigration issues, a letter shows https://t.co/RzA8X4tjYm

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 27, 2025

Veterans Sound the Alarm 

Current and former Justice Department officials have expressed serious concerns about these moves. They argue that the removal of apolitical career officials from these roles could open the door for politically charged investigations and undermine the department’s ethics rules. 

Without career officials to provide impartial oversight, critics warn that appointees could bypass ethical safeguards, leading to conflicts of interest in politically sensitive cases, as reported by Reuters. 

Department Declines to Comment 

Despite growing scrutiny, the Justice Department has not provided further details or explanations regarding the reassignments, leaving unanswered questions about the motivations and implications of these changes.