Justice Department fires Biden-era prosecutors, hosts anti-abortion advocates same day

The Trump administration fired Justice Department prosecutors Wednesday for allegedly coordinating too closely with abortion-rights advocacy groups during the Biden administration. The same day, Justice Department officials hosted a meeting with anti-abortion advocates.

The firings came as the Justice Department released a nearly 900-page report accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement. The report claims former Attorney General Merrick Garland's Justice Department "violated the rights of Americans" by applying laws unevenly to favor abortion-rights supporters.

The report specifically targets the FACE Act, a federal law that protects abortion clinics from blockades and threats. It alleges Biden-era prosecutors pursued harsher charges against anti-abortion activists while going easier on pro-abortion rights defendants. The report also accuses prosecutors of withholding evidence from defense attorneys.

Sanjay Patel, a longtime Civil Rights Division prosecutor who specialized in FACE Act cases, was among those named in the report. The document alleges he and other prosecutors served as references for grant applications by the National Abortion Federation, an abortion-rights group.

The timing of the firings and the anti-abortion meeting suggests the Trump Justice Department plans to take a dramatically different approach to abortion-related prosecutions.