Project 2025 - 17. The Department of Justice
The DOJ section of Project 2025 is written by Gene Hamilton, an American lawyer and policymaker who served within the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump Administration. He played a key role in ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and creating Trump's zero-tolerance family separation policy. He also revoked the Temporary Protected Status of immigrants from Sudan and South Sudan. Hamilton currently serves as the Vice President of America First Legal, a legal action group founded by former Trump Administration officials, including Stephen Miller. He also serves as treasurer for the Citizens for Sanity, a conservative political action committee.
The primary role of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is twofold: protecting public safety and defending the rule of law. And, as per the usual, the author believes this department has lost its way thanks to "radical Left ideologues."
"The (FBI), knowing that claims of collusion with Russia were false, collaborated with Democratic operatives to inject the story into the 2016 election." - Gene Hamilton, Project 2025
However, Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI and author of the Mueller Report, concluded that Russia did indeed insert themselves into the 2016 Presidential election. The FBI even has a most-wanted page for the arrest of those involved. There was never any evidence to conclude that "Democratic operatives" had any level of involvement.
Hamilton cites drugs, a liberal agenda, and an overall abdication of immigration laws as reasoning for the DOJ becoming a "bloated bureaucracy" filled with personnel who are "infatuated" with said liberal agenda and "defeat(ing)...political enemies." And thus, he says, it needs reform.
PRIORITIZING THE PROTECTION OF PUBLIC SAFETY
"Ordered liberty is at risk," Hamilton states, referring to U.S. citizens being called "domestic terrorists" for "exercising their constitutional rights." It is assumed here that he is referring to the January 6th riots, which led to the destruction of the U.S. Capitol Building, as well as the injuries of 138 police officers. 1575 people were charged in connection with the January 6th attack, 1270 were convicted, and all but 14 were pardoned by Donald Trump on January 20th, 2025, his first day in office.
Hamilton says the Biden Administration was too political, and used the DOJ to come down hard on "law-abiding citizens" including "protesting parents"--in reference to Attorney General Merrick Garland's memorandum asking for an investigation into "acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials"--and "shut(ting) down politically disfavored speech on the pretext of its being misinformation or disinformation." He again mentions the "Russia hoax" and, of course, Hunter's laptop.
RESTORING THE FBI'S INTEGRITY
In order to restore said integrity, Hamilton has a few things in mind.
1. Terminate unlawful investigations or those "contrary to the national interest."
So far this includes investigations into Elon Musk's companies, including SpaceX, X (formerly "Twitter"), Tesla, Starlink, and Neuralink; the firing of all those involved in the investigation of Trump's handling of classified documents in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results; sentencing Trump to a "penalty-free" unconditional discharge, making him the first convicted felon (34x over) to run for and win the presidency; revoking classified access from President Biden and former Secretaries of State Antony Blinken and Hillary Clinton; and stripping Secret Service detail from Joe Biden's children, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and government-funded security detail from Dr. Anthony Fauci.
2. Remove the FBI from under the watch of the Deputy Attorney General and give it to the Assistant Attorney Generals for the Criminal and National Security Divisions, making it less political, and unable to go around the Attorney General.
3. Prohibit the FBI from participating in activities to combat misinformation and disinformation.
"The FBI have absolutely no business policing speech, whether in the public square, in print, or online. The First Amendment prohibits it." - Gene Hamilton, Project 2025
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), however, does seem to have the right to police speech without pushback from the current administration, as seen with the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and legal U.S. resident, detained for participation in the Columbia University protests against the war in Gaza.
“This is not about free speech, this is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card, by the way.” - Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State
4. Removal of "non-law enforcement functions within the FBI," including 300 attorneys from the Office of General Counsel.
RENEWING THE DEPARTMENT'S FOCUS ON VIOLENT CRIME
Hamilton claims that despite the DOJ's pronouncements, violent crime is increasing across the U.S. However, this just isn't true. According to all polling and reporting, violent crime has come down dramatically since the '90s, including a reduction in burglaries, murders, domestic violence, and rapes and sexual assaults. But maybe he's referring to school shootings, which have increased 1745% in the same period of time.
Hamilton, again, references Garland's memorandum focusing on threats of violence from parent groups like Moms for Liberty. He also mentions jurisdictional issues that often allow criminals to "evade responsibility for their conduct."
Hamilton concludes this section by asking that we go ahead and "obtain finality" for all 44 prisoners currently on federal death row, and start using the death penalty for crimes other than just murder.
DISMANTLING DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES
Hamilton begins by discussing the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang and Mexican drug cartels, as well as the American mafia. Currently the status of "Mexican" and/or "[fill-in-the-blank-Central-or-South-American-Country] drug cartel" is being used to deport thousands of undocumented immigrants from the United States (including the elderly and young children), most of whom have no criminal record or connection to criminal activities whatsoever. And it's important to note here that while Hamilton mentions the mob, he certainly doesn't brief us on Donald Trump's connection to organized crime, of which there is endless documentation, including several books and articles.
Hamilton also asks that the new administration deploy the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), "which Congress expressly created to empower the (DOJ)."
Four months after publication of Project 2025, Donald Trump was charged by the State of Georgia with the offense of VIOLATION OF THE GEORGIA RICO ACT for "knowingly and willfully (joining) a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the (2020) election in favor of Trump."
Hamilton concludes with a little nostalgia: "build the wall."
PURSING A NATIONAL SECURITY AGENDA AIMED AT EXTERNAL STATE AND NON-STATE ACTORS, NOT U.S. CITIZENS EXERCISING THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
Here begins the conversation about the dangers of Chinese espionage and theft of trade secrets, a conversation that has gone strangely quiet in the past 8 weeks.
DEFENDING THE RULE OF LAW
Again he states, the Biden Administration used the DOJ merely for politicization and weaponization, whereas the Trump Administration has a real job to do. No more Russian hoaxes or errant laptops, but instead investigating pro-life demonstrators' claims of harassment and PTSD. And everything shall be done, Hamilton says, while "engaging in zealous advocacy for and (in) defense of the Constitution."
It makes one wonder how this all lines up with an attempt to end birthright citizenship and the idea that "he who saves his country does not violate any law."
And while the department will have to make "tough calls," Hamilton says, "(they) must always be consistent with the President's policy agenda and the rule of law."
Here's where it gets interesting.
Hamilton declares that the incoming administration should "(Affirm) the Separation of Powers," something we haven't seen even a little bit in the past few weeks, as Donald Trump attempts to all but eradicate the roles of the Judicial and Legislative branches of government.
"All three branches of the federal government retain not just the right, but the obligation to assess constitutionality. It is this obligation that is the foundation of the separation of powers." - Gene Hamilton, Project 2025
Hamilton goes on to clarify, however, that the Executive branch should "restrain the excesses" of the other two, and notes that any pushback isn't a "defect" in the system, but a “positive feature.” The DOJ, he says, should zealously guard Americans' constitutional rights, namely the First Amendment. An interest take just days after Donald Trump referred to MSNBC and CNN as "illegal," and continues to push back on the free press, maintaining his stance on the Associated Press and their ouster from all White House press briefings after declaring that the Gulf of Mexico is, indeed, the "Gulf of Mexico." Meanwhile, Americans are beginning to travel abroad with burner phones, in fear of seizure upon return to the U.S., where travelers have been denied entry for messages critical of the President.
But yes, Mr. Hamilton, by all means, let's discuss the First Amendment.
He refers to the severely-beaten but very dead horse, the Masterpiece Cakeshop, and seems to claim that the idea of not baking a cake for a same-sex wedding is discriminated against, while "LGBT" businesses can (and do) happily say no to serving straight weddings, without conflict.
In all the internet's vast knowledge, including Google pages 2, 3, 6, and 8, I have yet to find a single reference to an LGBT(Q+) bakeshop that refused to serve a straight couple.
He continues on to reference "affirmative discrimination" by the Biden Administration under the guise of "equity," (along with diversity and inclusion). He recommends removing such terminology and its incorporation from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Departments of Defense, Education, and Housing and Urban Development, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and to pay close attention to such "discrimination" among federal contractors.
Hamilton brings up two issues that have carried Trump's base since 2015: abortion and voter fraud. Despite what your state decides for you (the whole "states' rights" thing), he says federal law should prohibit "mailing every article, instrument, substance, drug, or thing which is advertised...for producing (an) abortion." So you can live in California, but if you're unable to get to a clinic you're out of luck.
And with regards to voting, it’s basically the same thing. He's less concerned if you have transportation or the physical ability to make it to the polls, and more concerned that you somehow, singlehandedly, overthrew the 2020 election. You were dead, but you voted. You were undocumented, but you voted. You moved, but you voted. Or maybe the voting machines chewed up and spat out your ballot (they prefer blueberries to strawberries, thank you very much).
“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." - The Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC)
Hamilton circles back to the Merrick Garland memorandum against parents protesting COVID policies and the use of Critical Race Theory in school ("political grandstanding"). He'd rather the DOJ focus on more important things. Maybe he wants to leave this responsibility to the Department of Education?
Wait...
Next he discusses the grant funding needed to combat human trafficking, an issue on which there is bipartisan agreement. However, he states that the Obama Administration required there to be inclusion of LGTBQ organizations in these grants, and always an interpreter on site, giving "more of the funding to...immigrant populations (and) support for the LGBTQ community." But with a little research Hamilton might have discovered that more than half of the human trafficking inside the U.S. is aimed at non-U.S. citizens, and that LGBTQ youth are at much greater risk for trafficking due to a lack of support or experience with violence.
But of course immigrants are the target. And despite "sanctuary cities," which were started in the 1980s by faith-based groups in the southwest U.S. as a means to protect refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala from their countries' civil wars, Hamilton wants to "withdraw" or "overturn" every immigration decision by Attorney General Merrick Garland, despite immigrants' sanctuary status. This includes "ensuring that no American citizen is discriminated against in the employment context in favor of a...foreign worker."
Most immigrants in the U.S. work in labor, including construction, farm work, food service, and cleaning. Many of these positions are low-paying and require long hours.
ADDITIONAL ESSENTIAL REFORMS
Hamilton says in order to "ensure adequate accountability (in) the DOJ" we need to do an overhaul of the political appointees within, especially in the Civil Rights Division, the FBI, and the Executive Office for Immigration Review. And of course all with the number-one goal of promoting the President's agenda. This includes mass-firings (as we've seen with DOGE in the past few weeks) of "nonessential details of...personnel," reviewing any misconduct issues--most federal workers up to this point have been fired for "poor evaluations" that don't actually exist--and above all, making sure that any new hires are based on merit, and not "illegal considerations" like race, religion, or sex. (Notedly, he leaves out "gender.")
One might argue that there may have been more than a few "illegal considerations" based on religion in the new Presidential Cabinet, but I digress...
Hamilton finishes up with org charts and a request to fund the National Crime Victimization Survey, a means to develop reports such as the "Race and Ethnicity of Violent Crime Offenders and Arrestees." He clearly hopes for a greater argument for mass deportation of undocumented migrants in the United States.
Funny, that when he considers the federal workforce he's all for ignoring color and "DEI." But not, apparently, when it comes to crime.
Project 2025
Ellie is an author, editor, and owner of Red Pencil Transcripts, and works with filmmakers, podcasts, and journalists all over the world. She lives with her family just outside of New York City, and is represented by Vicki Marsdon at High Spot Literary.
Excellent work. This is packed with information, and I appreciate how you laid it all out. Thank you 💯💙
The unraveling of America from the inside OUT ‼️