Under its chief, Harmeet Dhillon, the civil rights division of the Justice Department has pushed hard to replenish the ranks of a unit that was once a magnet for top legal talent.

Charges were dismissed against David Hearn, the former Olympian wrongly accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool, and a judge has barred prosecutors from trying to revive the case against him.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said that President Trump “has every right to be extraordinarily frustrated with the damage done to our national monuments in this city and elsewhere.”

Todd Blanche speaking at the Capitol last month.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, during a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday.

President Trump reiterated his support for the so-called anti-weaponization fund in a social media post on Friday.

Todd Blanche, according to current and former officials, understands that coping with President Trump’s demands, rages and U-turns is the price to pay for rising in his orbit.

President Trump seems even less inhibited by the rules, written or unwritten, that governed his predecessors.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, during an appearance before the Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday.

On Pam Bondi’s first day as attorney general in February 2025, she signed a directive that appeared to prohibit the kind of fund the Trump administration established this week.

The Justice Department is tapping an unlimited fund created by Congress to settle lawsuits filed against the government.

President Trump sued the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns to news media outlets, arguing that the agency should have done more to prevent the disclosures.

James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, was indicted last year by a grand jury in Virginia, accused of lying and obstructing a congressional investigation over testimony he gave in 2020. The charge was later dismissed.

Representative Eric Swalwell of California, one of President Trump’s most vocal critics in the House, said that he was being targeted by the Trump administration.

An undated photo of Jeffrey Epstein released by the Justice Department.