John Roth
@johnrothdc.bsky.social
Former federal prosecutor, former DHS Inspector General. Ethics and compliance leader in the private sector. Interested in governance, corruption, and justice issues.
Reposted by John Roth
To be clear, if you are still driving a Tesla or using X/Twitter, this is what you are supporting. There are non-racist, non-antisemitic alternatives that at least try to tell the truth. apple.news/AZsDQzHogSEO...
White nationalist talking points and racial pseudoscience: welcome to Elon Musk’s Grokipedia — Guardian US
World’s richest person wanted to ‘purge’ propaganda from Wikipedia, so he created a compendium of racist disinformation
apple.news
November 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
To be clear, if you are still driving a Tesla or using X/Twitter, this is what you are supporting. There are non-racist, non-antisemitic alternatives that at least try to tell the truth. apple.news/AZsDQzHogSEO...
Reposted by John Roth
One hallmark of democratic erosion is when leaders treat dissent as betrayal. Here, Trump attacks an elected official for independent voting choices, and it’s a classic sign of replacing party pluralism with personal loyalty.
November 15, 2025 at 12:48 PM
One hallmark of democratic erosion is when leaders treat dissent as betrayal. Here, Trump attacks an elected official for independent voting choices, and it’s a classic sign of replacing party pluralism with personal loyalty.
For those who are interested in the true culture of the Department of Justice (at least historically) I recommend the following:
open.substack.com/pub/justicec...
open.substack.com/pub/justicec...
Current Assistant U.S. Attorneys Have the Privilege to Represent the United States
You don't represent a president, an attorney general, or a U.S. Attorney. You represent the cause of justice, and that is a privilege – but also a responsibility.
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:14 PM
For those who are interested in the true culture of the Department of Justice (at least historically) I recommend the following:
open.substack.com/pub/justicec...
open.substack.com/pub/justicec...
Judge Ellis ruled yesterday that the lead Border Patrol official in charge of DHS' immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, Gregory Bovino, admitted that he lied in sworn deposition testimony concerning the use of force during operations.
capitolnewsillinois.com/news/restric...
capitolnewsillinois.com/news/restric...
Restrictions on federal immigration agents’ use of riot control weapons extended indefinitely
Article Summary A federal judge has indefinitely extended restrictions on immigration agents’ use of riot control weapons like tear gas
capitolnewsillinois.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Judge Ellis ruled yesterday that the lead Border Patrol official in charge of DHS' immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, Gregory Bovino, admitted that he lied in sworn deposition testimony concerning the use of force during operations.
capitolnewsillinois.com/news/restric...
capitolnewsillinois.com/news/restric...
Reposted by John Roth
Culture and Courage
open.substack.com/pub/steadyst...
Critical guardrails against tyranny: Personal and professional ethics and courage.
open.substack.com/pub/steadyst...
Critical guardrails against tyranny: Personal and professional ethics and courage.
Culture and Courage
The Steady State | by The Honorable John Roth
open.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Culture and Courage
open.substack.com/pub/steadyst...
Critical guardrails against tyranny: Personal and professional ethics and courage.
open.substack.com/pub/steadyst...
Critical guardrails against tyranny: Personal and professional ethics and courage.
I’ve been thinking a bit over the last few months about organizational culture, including the culture of the Department of Justice, where I spent the majority of my career.
So I wrote something:
substack.com/@steadystate...
So I wrote something:
substack.com/@steadystate...
The Steady State (@steadystate1)
Critical guardrails against tyranny: personal and professional ethics and courage.
substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:40 AM
I’ve been thinking a bit over the last few months about organizational culture, including the culture of the Department of Justice, where I spent the majority of my career.
So I wrote something:
substack.com/@steadystate...
So I wrote something:
substack.com/@steadystate...
www.cbsnews.com/news/erez-re...
More troubling news on the status of the Justice Department, this time in a report from 60 Minutes.
More troubling news on the status of the Justice Department, this time in a report from 60 Minutes.
Fired Justice Department lawyer says he refused to lie in the Abrego Garcia case
Former Justice Department lawyer Erez Reuveni is speaking out about a pattern of troubling behavior he says he witnessed inside the DOJ that undermined the rule of law.
www.cbsnews.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:13 PM
www.cbsnews.com/news/erez-re...
More troubling news on the status of the Justice Department, this time in a report from 60 Minutes.
More troubling news on the status of the Justice Department, this time in a report from 60 Minutes.
Two more career prosecutors (this time in EDVA) fired for upholding their ethical obligations. (Specifically, "refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause.") Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...
Prosecutor Who Rejected Trump’s Pressure to Charge James Is Fired
www.nytimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Two more career prosecutors (this time in EDVA) fired for upholding their ethical obligations. (Specifically, "refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause.") Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...
Not a single AUSA from EDVA appeared at Jim Comey’s arraignment. It speaks both to the integrity of the AUSAs in that office and the ill motives in bringing the indictment.
October 10, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Not a single AUSA from EDVA appeared at Jim Comey’s arraignment. It speaks both to the integrity of the AUSAs in that office and the ill motives in bringing the indictment.
District court opinion granting an evidentiary hearing in Abrego Garcia on vindictive prosecution because Todd Blanche, Krist Noam, and Pam Bondi couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
Full opinion here:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Full opinion here:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
October 4, 2025 at 5:29 PM
District court opinion granting an evidentiary hearing in Abrego Garcia on vindictive prosecution because Todd Blanche, Krist Noam, and Pam Bondi couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
Full opinion here:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Full opinion here:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
In 1987 I took my first oath as a federal prosecutor, to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
October 3, 2025 at 3:05 AM
In 1987 I took my first oath as a federal prosecutor, to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
The single most important attribute of an Inspector General is independence. Without that, nothing else matters. I hope the Senate will take its role seriously in examining the fitness of these candidates.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump oversight picks include scandal-hit ex-lawmaker, antiabortion lawyer
Several nominees have clearly partisan backgrounds, including two with controversial histories and two with ties to the agency they would be investigating.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 30, 2025 at 9:24 PM
The single most important attribute of an Inspector General is independence. Without that, nothing else matters. I hope the Senate will take its role seriously in examining the fitness of these candidates.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by John Roth
My new column:
I’ve always cringed when people say, “Live everyday like it’s your last.” If I did that, the remainder of my days would be devoted to eating fried chicken wings while sitting on my sofa watching "The Real Housewives."
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
I’ve always cringed when people say, “Live everyday like it’s your last.” If I did that, the remainder of my days would be devoted to eating fried chicken wings while sitting on my sofa watching "The Real Housewives."
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
Another person I love has died. I've developed a horrible fear of death. | Opinion
If I 'live everyday like it's your last,' the remainder of my days would be devoted to eating fried chicken while watching 'The Real Housewives.'
www.usatoday.com
April 13, 2025 at 2:33 AM
My new column:
I’ve always cringed when people say, “Live everyday like it’s your last.” If I did that, the remainder of my days would be devoted to eating fried chicken wings while sitting on my sofa watching "The Real Housewives."
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
I’ve always cringed when people say, “Live everyday like it’s your last.” If I did that, the remainder of my days would be devoted to eating fried chicken wings while sitting on my sofa watching "The Real Housewives."
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
David Brooks’ mea culpa is definitely worth a read. An exercise in intellectual humility with some future optimism for our dark times.
David Brooks’ mea culpa is definitely worth a read. An exercise in intellectual humility with some future optimism for our dark times.
I Should Have Seen This Coming
When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won...
www.theatlantic.com
April 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
David Brooks’ mea culpa is definitely worth a read. An exercise in intellectual humility with some future optimism for our dark times.
David Brooks’ mea culpa is definitely worth a read. An exercise in intellectual humility with some future optimism for our dark times.
Reposted by John Roth
A DHS spokesperson defended Trump’s gutting of the agency’s civil rights office, saying of the fired staffers: “rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often functioned as internal adversaries to slow down operations.”
New, @davidmcswane.bsky.social @hannahallam.bsky.social
New, @davidmcswane.bsky.social @hannahallam.bsky.social
“They Don’t Care About Civil Rights”: Trump’s Shuttering of DHS Oversight Arm Freezes 600 Cases, Imperils Human Rights
The closure of the 150-person office, which protected the civil rights of both immigrants and U.S. citizens, strips Homeland Security of its internal guardrails as the Trump administration turns DHS i...
www.propublica.org
April 8, 2025 at 5:28 PM
A DHS spokesperson defended Trump’s gutting of the agency’s civil rights office, saying of the fired staffers: “rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often functioned as internal adversaries to slow down operations.”
New, @davidmcswane.bsky.social @hannahallam.bsky.social
New, @davidmcswane.bsky.social @hannahallam.bsky.social
Insightful interactive article last week in the New York Times (in which I am quoted) on the tactics used by the Department of Government Efficency (DOGE).
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The DOGE Playbook Targeting Federal Agencies (Gift Article)
The cost-cutting strategy of the group, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has played out at more than 30 agencies so far.
www.nytimes.com
April 2, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Insightful interactive article last week in the New York Times (in which I am quoted) on the tactics used by the Department of Government Efficency (DOGE).
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
This nakedly political nomination for HHS IG is the next step in the Administration’s apparent plan: first to defang the current IGs, then to weaponize the position by appointing cronies who will do the administration’s bidding.
apnews.com/article/hhs-...
apnews.com/article/hhs-...
Trump nominates Republican once accused of mishandling taxpayer funds as HHS watchdog
President Donald Trump has nominated a Republican attorney who was once accused of mishandling taxpayer funds and who has a history of launching investigations against abortion clinics to lead the Dep...
apnews.com
March 28, 2025 at 11:37 PM
This nakedly political nomination for HHS IG is the next step in the Administration’s apparent plan: first to defang the current IGs, then to weaponize the position by appointing cronies who will do the administration’s bidding.
apnews.com/article/hhs-...
apnews.com/article/hhs-...
The Administration fired the entire workforce at DHS’ Civil Rights and Civil Liberties office. CRCL was the first line of oversight at DHS, helping to ensure DHS complied with the law. Although they had no independent reporting function, this is another blow to effective government.
March 21, 2025 at 9:12 PM
The Administration fired the entire workforce at DHS’ Civil Rights and Civil Liberties office. CRCL was the first line of oversight at DHS, helping to ensure DHS complied with the law. Although they had no independent reporting function, this is another blow to effective government.
thehill.com
March 14, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Honored to have testified today before House Homeland Security about the firing of the Inspectors General. Professional and transparent oversight is critical to good government, and the IG community has a track record of results. The President’s actions are a step backward from that goal.
March 12, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Honored to have testified today before House Homeland Security about the firing of the Inspectors General. Professional and transparent oversight is critical to good government, and the IG community has a track record of results. The President’s actions are a step backward from that goal.
Reposted by John Roth
The Constitution gave Congress the power to check the executive—but if they won’t use it, it’s meaningless. Will lawmakers keep watching from the sidelines as power continues to shift away from them? #ChecksAndBalances
March 5, 2025 at 4:23 AM
The Constitution gave Congress the power to check the executive—but if they won’t use it, it’s meaningless. Will lawmakers keep watching from the sidelines as power continues to shift away from them? #ChecksAndBalances