DOJ Attorney Dismissed Over Restoration of Rights Dispute Takes Complaints to Capitol Hill

The former DOJ attorney who says she was fired over her objection to restoring Mel Gibson’s gun rights took her complaints to Capitol Hill on Monday, as she and other dismissed attorneys took part in a show hearing run by House and Senate Democrats.

Liz Oyer first made headlines a few weeks ago when she spoke to the New York Times about her concerns over what she described as a move by the DOJ to begin automating the restoration of rights process; a description the DOJ contends was inaccurate. In her telling, Oyer not only raised eyebrows by balking at a broader restoration of rights for prohibited persons, but drew the ire of her superiors when she refused to sign off on restoring Gibson’s ability to own a firearm; a right he lost after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery almost 15 years ago. 

“It should alarm all Americans that the leadership of the Department of Justice appears to value political loyalty above the fair and responsible administration of justice,” said Liz Oyer, who has said she was fired last month after refusing to recommend that the gun rights of actor Mel Gibson, a supporter of President Donald Trump’s, be restored.

“It should offend all Americans that our leaders are treating public servants with a lack of basic decency and humanity,” she added.

Raise your hand if a public servant has ever treated you with a lack of basic decency and humanity while you were dealing with the government bureaucracy. 

Look, there are plenty of dedicated government employees who give their all to the job, but there are also a lot of paper pushers who are just there to collect a check and wait for their pension to kick in. I’m not saying that was the case with Oyer, but if she expects all Americans to be offended by her dismissal I think she’s in for a rude awakening. 

What exactly did Oyer expect when she decided she couldn’t, in good faith, go along with the decision to reinstate Gibson’s right to keep and bear arms? Like it or not, executive branch employees (like those at the Justice Department) serve at the pleasure of the chief executive. It’s not unusual for new administrations to clean house, especially when there are concerns that the old guard isn’t on the same page as the new one. Remember when Barack Obama fired a host of U.S. Attorneys appointed by his predecessor back in 2009? 

President Barack Obama plans to replace a “batch” of U.S. Attorneys in the next few weeks and more prosecutors thereafter, according to Attorney General Eric Holder.

“I expect that we’ll have an announcement in the next couple of weeks with regard to our first batch of U.S attorneys,” Holder said Thursday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing which stretched out over most of the day due to breaks for members’ votes. “One of the things that we didn’t want to do was to disrupt the continuity of the offices and pull people out of positions where we thought there might be a danger that that might have on the continuity–the effectiveness of the offices. But…elections matter–it is our intention to have the U.S. Attorneys that are selected by President Obama in place as quickly as they can.”

Elections do matter, and despite Oyer’s complaints on Capitol Hill, Trump and his cabinet members are free to make as many personnel decisions as they like. If Oyer objected to the DOJ’s move to start restoring Second Amendment rights to some prohibited persons, she’s free to criticize that decision as much as she wants as a private citizen, but there should be no expectation of job security if her position puts her at odds with DOJ policy.