Defending integrity: Former Miami federal prosecutors condemn partisan firings | Opinion

We are alumni attorneys of the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Florida. We have been authorized by dozens of our former colleagues to voice their and our opposition to the recent firings of several career prosecutors in this district who were dismissed in retaliation for putting public service above political loyalty to the president.

Our colleagues include a former Republican-appointed U.S. attorney and senior supervisory and line assistant U.S. attorneys (AUSAs) who have served both Republican and Democratic administrations.

We strongly condemn President Trump’s and Attorney General Bondi’s actions, actions that undermine the Department of Justice’s mission to thoroughly, fairly and impartially detect and prosecute the most serious crimes. Firing highly experienced, ethical and effective prosecutors, for partisan reasons, harms that mission and the interests of the people of the United States.

Each of us proudly swore to support and defend our Constitution and faithfully to execute the duties of our offices. All DOJ lawyers know these responsibilities and constitutional commands. Political interference in the conduct of a criminal prosecution, and partisan retribution against perceived adversaries, are anathema to the department’s core mission and to its sacred obligation to ensure equal and impartial justice under the law.

Trump and Bondi have corruptly flouted this fundamental principle. Here in the Southern District of Florida, this has been done in the firings of four of the USAO’s most seasoned prosecutors.

As detailed in an article this week by Miami Herald reporter Jay Weaver, the first firing occurred within days of Trump’s second inauguration when one of the Southern District’s most experienced prosecutors, Michael Thakur, was summarily fired and escorted out of the USAO just because he was one of the attorneys involved in the prosecution of Trump related to classified documents at the Trump residence.

Another prosecutor on that case, Anne McNamara, who left the Miami office to work for Special Counsel Jack Smith, was also summarily fired.

In July, AUSA Brooke Watson, who had received multiple awards for her dedicated service to the department, was similarly dismissed. Watson had worked on Smith’s prosecutorial team evaluating financial information related to the Jan. 6 incident.

This week, AUSA Will Rosenzweig learned he had been fired when he attempted to use his office mobile phone during a day he had taken off to observe the Rosh Hashanah holiday and found it wasn’t working. Rosenzweig’s firing has been linked to his having made online posts criticizing Trump, while in private practice and years before he became an AUSA.

These prosecutors were not removed from government service because they had been ineffective in carrying out their duties or because they had engaged in some sort of misconduct. On the contrary, they were some of the best and the brightest. They were fired because they were deemed adversaries of Donald Trump.

Trump has repeatedly argued that personal retribution is an acceptable basis for prosecutorial decisions. Such base motives have never been an appropriate foundation for prosecutorial action in our American system of justice. Indeed, even Bondi, in her opening statement at her confirmation hearing, recognized this and pledged to “work to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice — and each of its components.”

Sadly, Bondi and her “team” have since done the opposite. Under questioning, Bondi affirmed that she would not target persons just because they were political adversaries. Yet that is exactly what she has done. Finally, she affirmed, “If I am attorney general, I will not politicize that office.” In what other way could one characterize her actions but that of a political operative carrying out the political objectives of the president?

We stand with our former colleagues and support their efforts to enforce our laws honestly and fairly. We are with you.

Bruce L. Udolf is the former chief of Public Integrity in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (SDFL). Marcos Daniel Jimenez is the former U.S. Attorney, SDFL. Jane Moscowitz is former senior litigation counsel, SDFL. Caroline Miller is former first assistant U.S. attorney, SDFL.

This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 8:35 AM.