DOJ Public Integrity Section Gutted as Corruption Pardons Mount

An NPR investigation published May 13, 2026 reported that the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section - created after Watergate to prosecute public corruption - has been reduced from about 40 full-time attorneys when Trump took office in January 2025 to just two, with open matters falling from roughly 175-200 to about 20. Over the same period, at least 15 former elected officials and their co-conspirators convicted of or charged with corruption offenses were pardoned by the president.

Legal experts interviewed by NPR said the combination of pardons, the section's collapse and a broader exodus of prosecutors has weakened the federal government's capacity to pursue public-corruption cases, particularly in smaller states that rely on the section's resources. A top pardon official, Ed Martin, previously summarized the administration's approach on social media as "No MAGA left behind," though not all corruption pardons went to Republicans.

The White House defended the pardons as a lawful exercise of presidential authority. The section's diminished caseload is ongoing.