Former top DHS lawyer assisting Bondi with DOJ transition
As Pam Bondi prepares for confirmation as attorney general, she is working with a top lawyer from President-elect Donald Trump’s first term: Chad Mizelle, formerly acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security.
Mizelle has been in meetings with Bondi in Florida as she prepares to lead the Justice Department, according to a person with knowledge of the preparations. At the beginning of Trump’s first term, he was counsel to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Then, after a White House stint, he became a senior official at DHS. As the acting general counsel, he helped craft and defend Trump’s border security and deportation initiatives.
Mizelle is a longtime ally of Stephen Miller, Trump’s hawkish immigration adviser who has long pushed for dramatically heightened immigration enforcement. Trump announced last month that Miller will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy in his incoming White House.
The Justice Department will be instrumental in Trump’s effort to deliver on his promise of mass deportation. It houses the nation’s heavily backlogged immigration courts, which adjudicate immigrants’ appeals to stay in the country. And a significant portion of its criminal cases involve immigration-related crimes.
In 2017, during Mizelle’s time at DOJ, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed federal prosecutors to prioritize cases that could deter illegal immigration. The percentage of defendants charged with immigration crimes surged — cresting at more than one-third of defendants, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Mizelle is general counsel for Affinity Partners, the investment firm helmed by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. And like Bondi, he has Florida roots: Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, his wife, is a Trump-appointed federal judge in Tampa.