Military officers to assist with prosecuting local D.C. crimes

Judge Advocate General Corps. (Bing image generator, GPT-4o)

Select Military officers of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps are set to assist the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia. Starting next week, they will begin their training to work with misdemeanor cases. One justification for this move was that the U.S. Attorney’s  office for D.C. is short on staff. The  linked article was quick to note the removal of the prosecution staff involved with prosecuting the January 6, 2021, Capitol rioters as a cause for this shortage.

From NBC News:

Twenty members of the Defense Department are set to begin working as special assistant U.S. attorneys — federal prosecutors — in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia next week, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Tim Lauer, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, confirmed the move, saying members of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps would be joining the office, though he did not know how long the detail would last.

The Trump administration has overhauled the Justice Department since January, shifting federal law enforcement resources toward immigration-related offenses, overhauling the Civil Rights Division and targeting career law enforcement officials involved in cases disfavored by the administration, including the two criminal cases against Trump.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is unique in that it prosecutes both federal crimes in U.S. District Court and local adult criminal offenses in D.C. Superior Court. The office led the charge in prosecuting members of the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

A person familiar with the plans said that the 20 new employees were expected to work misdemeanor cases and that they would begin their training next week.

Steven Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University, noted that in 1983, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said JAG lawyers could not serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys because it violated a statute barring military officers from exercising the duties of a civil office. But just a few months later, Congress authorized them to do so.

Additional Reading:

Reilly, R. (2025, August 20). Military officers shifted to prosecute local D.C. crimes amid Trump takeover. NBC News. Link.

Category: Military issues, Society