Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington Charles Floyd reached the breaking point. He sent a letter to the district’s chief judge saying his office lacks the manpower to defend the United States against the avalanche of habeas corpus actions brought by immigrants held in ICE custody.
(Here is the letter sent, page 1 and page 2.)
There are severe personnel problems throughout the Department of Justice, as experienced career AUSAs have either been fired for doing their job when the targets of their prosecutions were Trump or Trump-adjacent actors, or fled the department as its focus changed from enforcement of law to persecution of Trump’s enemies or scapegoats. But never before has a United States Attorney openly asserted that he neither can nor will perform the functions of the office because it has become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cases. Continue reading
