““The division has abandoned its mission to fight hate crimes, human trafficking, law enforcement misconduct, voter suppression, redlining, and much more. This division has left millions of Americans vulnerable to predatory attacks and discrimination from those who would seek to take us back to a time where civil rights did not exist,” she said.”

“Now, Dhillon is rumored to be under consideration to be the associate attorney general, the number three official at the department, a position from which she would be responsible for overseeing all of the department’s civil litigation, according to CBS News and Bloomberg Law.”

“The civil rights division is overseeing an investigation into Cassidy Hutchinson, the former Trump aide who gave vivid testimony to the January 6 committee about the president’s actions on that day (it is unclear what civil rights violation, if any, Hutchinson committed).”

“She is also overseeing the high-profile prosecution of the journalist Don Lemon and protesters who interrupted a church service in St Paul in January.”

“The justice department on Monday also fired a veteran civil rights prosecutor who oversaw a criminal case against anti-abortion protesters and released a widely criticized report on efforts to prosecute anti-abortion protesters.”

““She would direct the Department of Justice to be acting even more at the direction of the president and his priorities than DoJ already has been, and I find that to be extremely alarming,” said Ejaz Baluch, Jr, a former lawyer in the civil rights division who left last year.”

“Dhillon was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-45 vote in April last year, and immediately began sweeping changes at the division.”

“Core civil rights laws like the Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act were barely mentioned, instead replaced with priorities like preventing voter fraud, anti-transgender issues, and preventing discrimination against white people.”

“Dhillon also removed the career lawyers serving as chiefs in many of the sections, involuntarily reassigning attorneys with decades of experience in civil rights to little-known offices to do bureaucratic work.”

““Over 100 attorneys decided that they’d rather not do what their job requires them to do, and I think that’s fine, because we don’t want people in the federal government who feel like it’s their pet project to go persecute police departments based on statistical evidence, or persecute people praying outside abortion facilities instead of doing violence,” she said during a podcast interview.”

“The justice department has since replaced those career prosecutors with attorneys who are ideologically aligned with the president, some of whom have little experience in civil rights law.”

“Before she arrived at the justice department, Dhillon was well connected to the Republican party in California.”

“In 2020, she served as a co-chair of Lawyers for Trump, a perch from which she worked on lawsuits contesting the election results and frequently appeared on television as Trump and allies spread the false claim the 2020 election was stolen.”

“After the 2020 election, Dhillon’s firm defended Trump and several close aides in litigation related to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.”

“The firm also successfully defended Trump against an effort to use a novel interpretation of the 14th amendment to get him disqualified from the 2024 presidential ballot.”

“She was the chair of the Republican party in San Francisco, a liberal bastion, and twice ran unsuccessfully for heavily Democratic state legislative seats.”

“Dhillon, who is Sikh, has also faced racist attacks from fellow Republicans over her faith.”

“Born in India, Dhillon moved to the UK, then New York, before settling in rural Smithfield, North Carolina.”

“She graduated high school when she was 16 and enrolled at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and joined the Dartmouth Review, a conservative publication.”