A United States Justice Department task force meant to investigate the perpetrators of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre has shed much of its staff and resources as the Trump administration has upended the federal judiciary, according to a new report in the Washington Post.
The task force, convened by US Attorney General Pam Bondi shortly after she took office, has struggled to deliver results despite the administration’s stated priority to fight antisemitism. Only one individual has been charged under its auspices so far, a man from Gaza living in Louisiana who allegedly had a hand in planning the attacks.
According to the Washington Post, the task force’s struggles are due at least in part to its top staffers being caught up in Trump’s broader purge of Justice Department officials.
One task force member, who had traveled to Israel to gather evidence against Hamas, was later fired because she had participated in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of President Trump. Another was fired for declining to bring charges against Trump targets James Comey, the former FBI director, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Task force left without prosecutors
The moves have reportedly left the task force without prosecutors with national security experience, hampering its goal to root out American connections to the Hamas attacks (which included 40 Americans among its approximately 1,200 victims).
A Justice Dept. spokesperson told the Washington Post that the task force “has evolved, but its mission remains the same - prosecute those who fund or otherwise materially support terrorism.”
The initiative was intended as a more aggressive continuation of similar efforts launched under President Joe Biden, whose attorney general Merrick Garland had filed criminal charges against Hamas.
The October 7 task force is separate from other Trump-led initiatives to fight antisemitism, including an inter-agency task force led by Leo Terrell that has focused heavily, though not exclusively, on college campuses.
The administration’s campus actions continue apace, with the government recently suing Harvard and UCLA for allegedly aiding and abetting antisemitism, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission arguing its own antisemitism case against the University of Pennsylvania in court.