Trump officials just destroyed the federal government's voting rights watchdog. By transferring all senior managers in the Department of Justice's voting section to a backwater office and halting every active investigation, the administration has effectively shut down the unit tasked with protecting voter access nationwide, as reported in The Guardian.
Last week, voting section chief Tamar Hagler and five veteran managers got reassigned to process employee complaints—far from their previous role overseeing 30 attorneys investigating voter discrimination. "It is extremely clear that the intent is to get absolutely nothing done. And the effect will be that absolutely nothing gets done," told The Guardian.
The staff was ordered to terminate all ongoing voting rights cases including inquiries into election practices in Pennsylvania and Georgia.
The move came shortly after Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon took command of the civil rights division. "In an unusual move,; reported The Guardian, "Dhillon sent out new 'mission statements to the department's sections that made it clear the civil rights division was shifting its focus from protecting the civil rights of marginalized people to supporting Trump's priorities."
Previously:
• Pro-Trump Mesa County clerk convicted of tampering with voting machines
