Nonpartisan civil service signatories warn that attacks on law firms and lawyers undermine the rule of law and call on the legal community to stand up for constitutional principles.

Washington, D.C. — More than 1,000 former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials—spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations, a majority of whom were nonpartisan civil servants—have signed a statement condemning the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. The letter calls the indictment an “unprecedented assault on the rule of law directed by President Donald Trump.”

In the letter, the signatories detail how the President’s actions disregard longstanding DOJ guidelines for apolitical law enforcement. They cite his public demands for prosecution, the removal of a U.S. Attorney who refused to bring charges, and the installation of a loyalist to secure the indictment against the judgment of career prosecutors. 

These actions, they write, represent a grave threat to the integrity of the justice system.

The signatories also offer unequivocal support for the prosecutors who upheld their oaths by refusing to pursue unwarranted charges, calling them “an example of the integrity and courage we all must exercise now.”