The U.S. Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section has been stripped of power to fight political corruption, losing its authority to file new cases. Fordham Law Professor Andrew Kent was quoted in a Reuters special report about the overhaul.
Beyond the Justice Department, Trump and his administration have sought to weaken or eliminate other institutions meant to be insulated from political influence, including firing independent inspectors general, who audit federal agencies for fraud and waste. Those moves risk steering the U.S. toward a more autocratic style of government, some constitutional specialists warn.“What is happening here is utterly unprecedented,” said Andrew Kent, who teaches constitutional law at Fordham University School of Law. “These seem like very dangerous steps for a democracy.”
Read “How Trump defanged the Justice Department’s political corruption watchdogs” on Reuters.
