The Justice Department hosted anti-abortion advocates Wednesday morning, creating an immediate optics problem for the Trump administration just as it was firing prosecutors accused of excessive collaboration with abortion-rights organizations.
John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life, arrived at DOJ headquarters and met with officials from the Civil Rights Division. The timing underscored the administration's sharply different approach to interest group engagement under the new regime. Mize said he wanted to praise the department for releasing a report this week from Trump's "weaponization working group," which examined what the administration characterizes as politicized prosecutions during the Biden years.
The report found that Biden-era prosecutors "closely collaborated" with abortion-rights groups including the National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood, and the Feminist Majority Foundation when enforcing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. That 1994 law criminalizes violence and intimidation at abortion clinics. The Trump administration fired at least four prosecutors Monday, claiming they had weaponized the statute.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized the fired prosecutors on Fox News for "working hand in hand with NGOs and nonprofits" to target pro-life activists. "There's no emails in my inbox from NGOs telling me what to do," he said. Blanche told NBC News the Biden Justice Department was "working very closely with outside organizations" to "go after individuals who were pro-life."
A DOJ spokesperson said Mize did not meet directly with Harmeet Dhillon, the Civil Rights Division chief. The statement noted that "in this DOJ, the Civil Rights Division routinely meets with interest groups from all perspectives, but sets litigation priorities consistent with the priorities of the Administration."
When asked how his group's engagement with the department differed from the collaborations condemned in the report, Mize began to explain but stopped mid-sentence. He later emphasized that Americans United for Life opposes unequal enforcement of the FACE Act and said he would support prosecution of any "militant pro-lifer" threatening to kill an abortion provider.
The weaponization report itself marked a departure from standard practice. Rather than a routine internal review, it disclosed confidential employee communications and criticized long-serving staff members, functions normally handled by the nonpartisan inspector general's office.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The optics here are brutal for the administration, whether intentional or not: firing prosecutors for meeting with one side while immediately hosting the other side tells you everything about where DOJ priorities lie now."
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