DOJ Assigns Ethics Powers to Political Appointees

Bloomberg Law reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has given political appointees decision-making authority over matters concerning ethics, employee discipline, disclosure processes to Congress, handling Inspector-General requests for grand-jury material, as well as Office of Special Counsel referrals. A January 27 memorandum from then Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove granted this authority — normally delegated to the DOJ's highest-ranking career official — to two political appointees. The appointees were Kendra Wharton, a former criminal defense lawyer for President Trump, and Marc Fox, Bove's chief of staff and a 2021 law school graduate. The reassignment and delegation were the subject of a February 20, 2025 Senate Judiciary Committee oversight letter, which demanded a copy of the delegation order and related records. The January 27 memorandum does not appear to have been publicly released.