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📂 Category: Department of Justice,military lawyers,pete hegseth,U.S. military
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Army to provide dozens of lawyers to the Justice Department for temporary assignments in Memphis and near the U.S.-Mexico border that could last until next fall, according to a memo issued this week and reviewed by The Associated Press.
“I am requesting that you collectively identify 48 attorneys and 4 paralegals from within your Department of the Military who may be suitable for further detailing” to the Department of Justice to serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys, Hegseth wrote in a memo dated Monday sent to all four services and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The memo appears to be the latest effort to send military and civilian lawyers who work at the Pentagon to the Justice Department, this time to staff offices stationed along the southern US border or where federal immigration enforcement operations are conducted.
Last month, the Pentagon also agreed to send up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges in a separate effort. The Trump administration has increasingly turned to the military to bolster its anti-immigration campaign, starting with deployments at the southern border and a series of U.S. cities.
A memo this week says the Justice Department has requested 20 attorneys to help support its offices in Memphis, where President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard; Nov. 12 for West Texas — specifically for the cities of El Paso, Del Rio and Midland — and three attorneys and two paralegals in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Read more: National Guard troops were seen patrolling Memphis alongside local police
The memo does not specify what type of litigation volunteers will be asked to undertake, but it says that ideally, attorneys should have “substantial experience” in immigration and administrative law as well as prosecutorial and litigation experience.
The Pentagon said in a statement that it is “proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our law enforcement partners, bringing the skill and dedication of American service members to achieve justice, restore order and protect the American people.”
The Justice Department also confirmed the authenticity of the memo but did not provide additional details on why it was requested or what the lawyers would do.
As with the prior request for hundreds of military lawyers to serve as immigration judges, it is not immediately clear what impact the removal of an increasing number of lawyers would have on the armed forces judicial system. Attorneys, called judge attorneys, have a range of duties like civilian attorneys, ranging from carrying out prosecutions, serving as defense counsel or providing legal advice to service members.
The new request comes after the Justice Department requested on September 26 the appointment of 35 lawyers and two paralegals from the military, according to the memo. It was not immediately clear whether this number was in addition to the 48 lawyers requested this week.
The AP also reviewed an email sent to military lawyers on Sept. 12, which stated that the Pentagon was looking for volunteers to become special assistant U.S. attorneys in West Texas and New Mexico without providing a total number.
It’s not clear how successful the Pentagon has been in getting lawyers to volunteer, but at least some services have been presenting the case to their lawyers through letters like the one sent by the Army’s top lawyer.
“These roles provide an unparalleled opportunity to improve your advocacy skills, courtroom procedures, and functional knowledge of the federal legal system for future use in our military justice system or civil litigation,” Maj. Gen. Bobby Christine said in an email reviewed by the AP.
Christine said the work would be “to support national priorities.”
However, Hegseth’s memo says the services only had until Thursday to identify lawyers and hinted at troops being subject to forced mobilization orders.
The Army and Navy did not respond to questions about how many lawyers from their services are sent to the Justice Department. The Air Force directed questions to the Pentagon.
Associated Press writer Alana Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
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