Sign in

John Roth

@johnrothdc.bsky.social
1.4K followers 586 following 132 posts

Former federal prosecutor, former DHS Inspector General. Ethics and compliance leader in the private sector. Interested in governance, corruption, and justice issues.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by John Roth
Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
SHOULD THE U.S BLOT OUT THE SUN AND USHER IN AN AGE OF ETERNAL DARKNESS? - Gallup 2/20/26-3/5/26 NO - 41% YES - 38% UNSURE - 21%
318135982930
Reposted by John Roth
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.
91147798501
Reposted by John Roth
Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
This country's problems are, first and foremost, the fault of its people The people need to be better for the country to get better
111214
Reposted by John Roth
Davy Pottel @drpottel.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
The catalog of ICE abuses in Noah Smith’s article is staggering.
Here’s a video of ICE agents in Arkansas beating up an unarmed U.S. citizen. Here’s a video of ICE agents arresting two U.S. citizens in a Target. Here’s a story about a similar arrest. Here’s a video of an ICE agent brandishing a gun in the face of a protester. Here’s the story of ICE agents arresting a pastor who complained about an arrest he saw. Here’s a video of ICE agents arresting an American citizen and punching him repeatedly. Here’s a video of ICE agents threatening a bystander who complained about their reckless driving. Here’s a video of ICE agents arresting a man for yelling at them from his own front porch. Here’s a video of ICE agents making a particularly brutal arrest while pointing their weapons at unarmed civilians nearby. Here’s a story about another ICE killing, this one in Maryland, under dubious circumstances.

These are all things I noticed on X within just the last two days. There has been a pretty constant stream of these for months. Here’s a roundup of some others, by Jeremiah Johnson:
11753244
Reposted by John Roth
LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries. Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves. "Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks. "No, guess he should've complied," agent says. Yakima, Washington
72073664539
Reposted by John Roth
Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Just so we are all on the same page, when Trump says that 11 months ago he inherited a ‘mess,’ this is the mess he inherited.
25122
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
This is quite a startling drop, to the detriment of public safety.
043
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Another apparent series of misrepresentations to two federal courts by the Department of Justice in the Abrego Garcia cases.
142
Reposted by John Roth
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
THREAD: Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body cam video of DHS's actions in Chicago. She finds that DHS *repeatedly* misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents' own videos. I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
II. Credibility
The Court next addresses the credibility of the parties’ evidence and witnesses. After reviewing all the evidence submitted to the Court and listening to the testimony elicited at the preliminary injunction hearing, during depositions, and in other court proceedings, the Court finds Defendants’ evidence simply not credible. [FN 6]

Plaintiffs submitted a mountain of evidence, providing the Court with over eighty declarations, numerous videos and articles, and other evidence. Defendants did not rebut anything that Plaintiffs set forth in their declarations or testimony, even with BWC footage. 

[FN 6] In another case considering some of the same evidence presented to this Court, another court in this district also found that the perceptions of certain of Defendants’ declarants, such as Hott and Parra, were not reliable. See Illinois v. Trump, No. 25-cv-12174, 2025 WL 2886645, at *5 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 10, 2025) (noting a “troubling trend of Defendants’ declarants equating protests with riots and a lack of appreciation for the wide spectrum that exists between citizens who are observing, questioning, and criticizing their government, and those who are obstructing, assaulting, or doing violence”), motion to stay denied in part, 155 F.4th 929 (7th Cir. 2025).
17083353517
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
This is insane. A government I no longer recognize.
010
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Inconceivable numbers. Each one would be a scandal in normal times.
030
Reposted by John Roth
emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
What We Know about the Day of Jim Comey's Indictment www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/20/w...
emptywheel.net
What We Know about the Day of Jim Comey's Indictment - emptywheel
Let’s assume for the moment that, to the extent the players involved in indicting Jim Comey understand the least little bit about what went down, they’re telling the truth. Here’s what Lindsey Halliga...
815965
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
A couple of days ago, we saw another data point, not well publicized, about the cultural health of the Department of Justice.
100
Reposted by John Roth
Roy L. Austin, Jr. @raustinjr.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
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...
apple.news
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
11712
Reposted by John Roth
The Steady State @thesteadystate.org · 15/11/2025
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.
613843
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
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
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.
030
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
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
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
172
Reposted by John Roth
The Steady State @thesteadystate.org · 05/11/2025
Culture and Courage open.substack.com/pub/steadyst... Critical guardrails against tyranny: Personal and professional ethics and courage.
open.substack.com
Culture and Courage
The Steady State | by The Honorable John Roth
02915
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
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...
substack.com
The Steady State (@steadystate1)
Critical guardrails against tyranny: personal and professional ethics and courage.
000
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
www.cbsnews.com/news/erez-re... More troubling news on the status of the Justice Department, this time in a report from 60 Minutes.
cbsnews.com
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.
132
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
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...
nytimes.com
Prosecutor Who Rejected Trump’s Pressure to Charge James Is Fired
172
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
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.
071
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
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...
storage.courtlistener.com
151
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
In 1987 I took my first oath as a federal prosecutor, to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
172
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
1116
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
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...
washingtonpost.com
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.
062
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Trump officials increasingly recruit local police for immigration enforcement despite ‘red flags’
Agreements with agencies in 38 states resurrect aggressive tactics shelved more than a decade ago amid alarm about civil rights abuses
151
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/u...
nytimes.com
Justice Dept. Policy Now Allows Pursuit of Reporters’ Records in Leak Inquiries (Gift Article)
A new memo suggests that investigations may be launched not just for leaks of classified information, but where disclosures “undermine” Trump administration policies.
121
Reposted by John Roth
Michael J. Stern @michaeljstern.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
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...
usatoday.com
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.'
4549
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
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.
theatlantic.com
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...
000
Reposted by John Roth
Chris Morran @themorrancave.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
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
propublica.org
“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...
062
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
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/...
nytimes.com
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.
42113
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
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
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...
32714
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
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.
100
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
thehill.com/opinion/whit...
thehill.com
000
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
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.
010
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-f...
cbsnews.com
What America is losing as President Trump fires independent government watchdogs
President Trump has fired heads of offices and agencies tasked, since Watergate, with protecting federal workers and whistleblowers. Scott Pelley reports on what's happening to independent watchdogs.
000
Reposted by John Roth
Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 05/03/2025
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
0189
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
youtube.com/watch?v=Gupy...
youtube.com
They Were the Original DOGE. Then Trump Fired Them. | NYT Opinion
YouTube video by The New York Times
010
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Just going to put this quote out there, for no reason at all: “The United States Attorney is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all. ..”
110
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
www.pogo.org/post/stateme... A new low, even by the standards of today’s broken political discourse.
pogo.org
Statement from Executive Director Danielle Brian on Elon Musk…
POGO stands behind Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette and the critical work he does to expose government corruption and waste.
000
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
theatlantic.com
Civil Servants Are Not America’s Enemies
Trump wants to bring back the spoils system of the 19th century.
000
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Life is full of unknowns, and the skill lies in taking the moment and embracing it without fear for the future.
A solitary individual, walking across a bridge away from the viewer in a dense mist.
000
Reposted by John Roth
Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 29/01/2025
Trump's attempt to fire more than a dozen inspectors general is misguided and could hurt efforts to combat waste and fraud in the federal government.
1141
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
thehill.com/opinion/crim...
thehill.com
000
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Gray on gray, Pacific Coast.
Rocky coastline with light gray sky, dark gray rocks in the foreground, and dark water beyond. Foreboding mood.
000
John Roth @johnrothdc.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
True heroism is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
000
Reposted by John Roth
Paul @bingowings14.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
To be fair she does look like a chicken.
867616786849
Reposted by John Roth
Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 21/11/2024
Like so many plans put forth by the next administration, many of the Department of Government Efficiency's proposals are about rewarding friends and punishing enemies, and weaponizing the government against communities who need its services most.
264