Twenty Defense Department attorneys are preparing to take on prosecutorial roles in Washington, D.C., joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office as special assistant U.S. attorneys. The group, drawn from the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, will begin work next week handling both federal and local cases.
Tim Lauer, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, confirmed the detail but said he did not know how long the arrangement would continue. The District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office is unique in prosecuting both federal crimes in U.S. District Court and local criminal cases in D.C. Superior Court, including those stemming from the events of January 6 2021 at the Capitol.
The move has precedent. Georgetown law professor Steven Vladeck noted that in 1983, the Justice Department initially barred JAG officers from serving as federal prosecutors under a statute prohibiting military officers from holding civil offices, but Congress later passed legislation allowing the practice.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has recently said her office faces significant staffing shortages, pointing to a need for 90 more prosecutors along with 60 investigators and paralegals.
