• Former DOJ chief of staff turns to social media to recruit prosecutors who “support President Trump” after contentious CNN appearance
• Stephen Miller amplifies recruiting effort as career prosecutors refuse controversial cases involving Don Lemon and Minneapolis protesters
• DOJ has lost approximately two-thirds of staff dedicated to defending Trump policies in court since July 2025

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — The Department of Justice has turned to social media direct messages to recruit prosecutors who explicitly “support President Trump,” marking an unprecedented approach to hiring federal attorneys as career prosecutors continue to flee the embattled agency.

Chad Mizelle, who resigned as DOJ chief of staff in October 2025 after just 10 months amid corruption allegations over a $14 billion merger settlement, posted on X Saturday asking prospective lawyers to contact him about Assistant U.S. Attorney positions.

“If you are a lawyer, are interested in being an AUSA, and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda, DM me,” Mizelle wrote. “We need good prosecutors. And DOJ is hiring across the country. Now is your chance to join the mission and do good for our country.”

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The recruitment drive came days after Mizelle appeared on CNN, where anchor Jake Tapper repeatedly challenged him over his defense of federal agents who shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis nurse, 10 times while he was filming a Border Patrol operation.

Tapper Confrontation Precedes Recruiting Effort

During the contentious Tuesday interview, Mizelle appeared tongue-tied and defensive as Tapper confronted him over suggesting Pretti bore responsibility for his own death.

“So you have an issue with the First Amendment?” Tapper shot back when Mizelle blamed Minnesota officials for “agitation” against ICE. “You don’t think that people should be exercising their First Amendment rights to speak about policies that they don’t like.”

“You know there’s video of this, right?” Tapper said after Mizelle claimed Pretti was “committing an act of violence.” “I mean, you’re aware that there’s video of this? And we saw that the officers … I saw 5 or 6 officers wrestling him to the ground while he was holding up his [phone].”

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When Mizelle attempted to argue that multiple officers proved Pretti was resisting arrest, Tapper responded bluntly.

“Five or 6 officers jumping on somebody who obviously was immediately on the ground and one hand was on the ground and one hand was holding his camera, is not evidence that six people needed to be doing that,” Tapper said. “That’s like saying ‘he deserved to be shot.'”

A user on X quickly pointed out that Mizelle’s direct messages weren’t even open on his profile when he posted the recruiting message. Mizelle replied simply: “Fixed!”

Miller Amplifies “Patriot” Recruiting Campaign

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller amplified Mizelle’s recruiting effort, sharing the post and adding his own call for applicants.

“If you want to combat fraud, crime and illegal immigration, reach out,” Miller wrote on X. “Patriots needed.”

Miller has been openly pushing to remake the DOJ in the image of ICE’s mass hiring of immigration officers with relaxed standards.

“One of the most important things we can do as a movement is like [what they did] at DHS, hiring 10,000 new ICE officers,” Miller said on The Charlie Kirk Show on January 15. “In so doing that, you’re hiring 10,000 new, pro-American patriots, 10,000 people who love their country and believe in the country and believe in the rule of law.”

“There’s a desperate need to do the same kind of project at the DOJ,” Miller added.

Miller’s influence over the Justice Department has been described as striking by Trump aides, with a non-lawyer holding sway over Attorney General Pam Bondi. According to CNN reporting, Miller regularly works with younger aides inside the department’s Office of Public Affairs to shape messaging strategy.

Career Prosecutors Refusing Controversial Cases

The recruitment push comes as the DOJ faces a crisis of career prosecutors refusing to take on cases they view as politically motivated and legally unsound.

Career DOJ prosecutors have refused to prosecute former CNN anchor Don Lemon and others arrested for protesting at a St. Paul church where an ICE official serves as pastor.

“They don’t feel comfortable bringing cases and pursuing cases where they do not think the facts line up with the charges,” MSNBC’s Carol Leonnig reported Friday.

The two-thirds staffing loss in July 2025 came as Bondi and Mizelle fired officials accused by the Trump administration of politicizing the department under President Joe Biden.

Federal prosecutors have also threatened resignation over the Justice Department’s refusal to open full civil rights investigations into the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Pretti, both 37, by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Mizelle’s Controversial DOJ Tenure

Mizelle’s tenure as DOJ chief of staff was marked by multiple controversies beyond the HPE-Juniper merger scandal that led to his resignation.

During the first Trump administration, Mizelle served as Rod Rosenstein’s chief legal counsel and literally wrote the “scope memos” that authorized the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Trump, according to The Last Refuge.

Mizelle also wrote the expanded scope memos for Mueller and Andrew Weissmann that permitted targeting Michael Flynn and others close to Trump.

In his current role before resigning, Mizelle was accused by former Antitrust Division official Roger Alford of subordinating the rule of law to political favor-trading.

“He accepts party meetings and makes key decisions depending on whether the request or information comes from a MAGA friend,” Alford said in a speech directly calling out Mizelle’s role in pushing through the controversial merger.

Unprecedented Hiring Through Social Media

Legal experts and social media users expressed alarm at the explicit political litmus test and informal hiring process.

“This should make everyone’s alarm bells ring,” one user responded on X. “Chad Mizelle is out there telling would-be prosecutors: if you ‘support President Trump,’ DM him for AUSA roles. That’s not how a professional Justice Department hires. That’s how you build a patronage shop.”

The approach mirrors ICE’s significantly reduced training duration and relaxed recruitment standards as the Trump administration fast-tracks hiring for its immigration enforcement priorities.

Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, appointed last year, has drawn criticism for his lack of experience as a prosecutor. Prior to being nominated by Trump, he’d never actually done the job.

Historical Precedent and Concerns

The last time a president attempted to install politically loyal prosecutors at the expense of career attorneys, it led to a major scandal.

In 2006, President George W. Bush fired seven U.S. attorneys, primarily because they refused to prosecute bogus voter fraud cases or were not deemed “loyal Bushies.”

What resulted was a popular outcry, a protracted investigation and hearings in Congress, and the eventual resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, along with eight other top officials.

In 2025, Trump fired U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert in the Eastern District of Virginia because he refused to prosecute two of Trump’s political enemies, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump’s Growing List of DOJ Targets

The Justice Department under Bondi has been investigating a growing number of Trump political foes, including:

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee
• Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, former deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee
• Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, whom Miller accused of inciting “violent insurrection”
• Rep. Ilhan Omar, whom Trump called to investigate on Truth Social
• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
• Don Lemon and protesters at a St. Paul church

“Investigate these Corrupt Politicians, and do it now!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, with subpoenas served to Minnesota officials hours later.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Trump suggested more prosecutions were coming.

“It was a rigged election. Everybody now knows that,” Trump said of the 2020 presidential election he lost by more than 7 million votes. “People will soon be prosecuted for what they did.”

Can the Justice Department maintain its independence when prosecutors are explicitly recruited based on political loyalty rather than legal expertise?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from Raw Story’s coverage of the recruitment effort, The Daily Beast’s reporting on Miller’s “patriot” recruiting campaign, Raw Story’s account of the Tapper-Mizelle interview, Mediaite’s coverage of the CNN confrontation, The American Prospect’s analysis of DOJ turmoil, CNN’s reporting on Mizelle’s resignation, Axios reporting on Mizelle leaving DOJ, Economic Liberties Project on corruption allegations, The Daily Beast on Miller’s plan to remake DOJ, NBC News on DOJ targeting Trump foes, CNN’s analysis of Miller’s DOJ influence, and Wikipedia’s Stephen Miller biography.

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