During an appearance on “The Tucker Carlson Show” on Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon revealed to host and Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson that Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys held emotional gatherings, including “crying sessions,” following President Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election.
Dhillon said Trump’s return to office and his administration’s stance against discrimination and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives triggered mass resignations in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
“Wait, they quit because you informed them of the law?” Carlson asked.
“Yes, and the law and the priorities. Their pet projects had changed. They weren’t going to be able to do those the way that they wanted,” Dhillon replied.
Between January and May, after Trump’s inauguration, approximately 250 lawyers—around 70% of the Civil Rights Division’s staff—resigned, according to National Public Radio (NPR).
Carlson questioned whether these attorneys believed the DOJ should be insulated from electoral outcomes. “There were career lawyers there who were doing the same thing, no matter who is the president. Suddenly, their little fiefdom that had remained untouched, like Shangri-La, was suddenly having to be responsive to elections,” Dhillon explained.
Carlson responded, “So that’s the definition of the deep state, what you just described? Elections have no effect? It’s like there’s no way to control these people. They act totally independently from the democratic system. That’s the problem.”
Dhillon, who was appointed to lead the Civil Rights Division by Trump in December 2024, is known for challenging medical professionals involved in transgender procedures. She recounted that her internal memos triggered internal backlash.
“That’s what I found,” Dhillon said. “In response to my memos, it began leaking to the press. They began having unhappy hours, which they would invite supervisors, political supervisors, to make their point that they were unhappy. We got the point. And they had crying sessions, struggle sessions, crying sessions in the DOJ.”
“Oh, there was open crying in the halls,” Dhillon continued. “Crying, yes. Then one of my colleagues described to me — it was the last day a couple of weeks ago for some of them — they lined up in a phalanx and approached the elevator together, and then they left the building together, to show their solidarity for one another there, as if they were persecuted.”
“How old are these [people] — high school students or adults?” Carlson asked.
Dhillon clarified they were “30, 40 and 50-year-old career attorneys in the Department of Justice” participating in these demonstrations and resistance to Trump’s policies.
“It’s pathetic,” Carlson remarked.
