Ex-DHS official slammed for seeking pro-Trump federal prosecutor candidates

Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy criticized Chad Mizelle—former acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and former Department of Justice (DOJ) chief of staff under President Donald Trump—for soliciting pro-Trump lawyers to become assistant United States attorneys.

“If you are a lawyer, are interested in being an AUSA, and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda, DM me,” Mizelle posted on X on Saturday. “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.”

In response, McCarthy, a former chief assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote on X: “If support for incumbent the president is now a condition of enforcing federal law, Congress should defund DOJ. DOJ should only exist if it’s nonpartisan. Too dangerous to liberty otherwise. If AG [Merrick] Garland’s office had posted this, MAGA & GOP would be calling for impeachment.”

Newsweek reached out to Mizelle via email on Sunday morning and will update this article with any response.

Why It Matters

Assistant United States Attorneys are federal prosecutors within the DOJ who represent the U.S. government in criminal prosecutions, civil litigation, and appellate cases. The DOJ has struggled to fill open jobs after losing thousands of experienced attorneys since the start of Trump’s second term, according to the American Bar Association (ABA), even though in the past it’s had little trouble attracting top alumni from prestigious law schools or law firms.

Traditionally, presidential administrations have been careful to avoid the appearance of a politicized DOJ.

What To Know

Trump chose Mizelle in late 2024 to serve as chief of staff at the DOJ, writing in a Truth Social post at the time: “During my First Term, Chad was General Counsel and Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security, where he helped to secure our Border, and stop the flow of illegal drugs and aliens into our Country. Chad is a MAGA warrior, who will help bring accountability, integrity, and Justice back to the DOJ.”

However, in September 2025, Mizelle, a key ally of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, left the DOJ. Upon leaving, he told Axios he intended to continue “exposing the left-wing groups responsible for violence across America.” He also wrote an op-ed in Stars and Stripes a month later entitled, “Where local prosecutors have failed, the federal government has stepped in,” in which he praised U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“What America needs now is clear-eyed leadership—the kind that values compassion for victims and consequences for the violent,” he wrote. “That’s the leadership Pam Bondi is delivering at the Department of Justice.”

In response to McCarthy’s X post on Saturday, conservative commentator John Podhoretz wrote, “Thank you. I thought I was taking crazy pills.”

McCarthy, who is also a contributing editor at National Review, wrote in a follow-up post, “Crazy pills would be a blessing; we’d wake up and it would just have been a bad dream. In 2006, AG [Alberto] Gonzales had to resign over an unfair accusation of politicizing DOJ, and AG [Michael] Mukasey (supported by Pres Bush) restored credibility by shielding DOJ from WH direction.”

Meanwhile, Miller backed Mizelle’s post on X and wrote that if people “want to combat fraud, crime and illegal immigration, reach out,” adding that “patriots needed.

What People Are Saying

Mike Davis, lawyer and founder of the Article III Project, posted on X: “Every federal prosecutor and agent works for the deputy attorney general, who works for the attorney general, who works for the President, who is elected by all Americans. We’re not ruled by sanctimonious AUSAs and rogue agents who think they don’t report to anyone.”

John Harwood, former CNN White House correspondent, in response to Mizelle’s post on X: “This is corrupt.”

Joyce Alene Vance, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, wrote on X on Saturday: “Send me a DM if you want to be a federal prosecutor is not how government hiring works.”

Attorney Blake Allen wrote on X on Saturday: “Becoming an AUSA is traditionally seen as a prestigious posting that often leads to senior government work, the first step in political careers or transition into white collar defense firms. The fact that they’re having to advertise on X DMs is not a good sign for competence.”

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