WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor fired last year over critical comments he had written as a private citizen about President Donald Trump sued the Justice Department on Friday, saying his termination violated his First Amendment rights.
Will Rosenzweig was two weeks away from trying a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud case when a blog he had written years earlier covering a broad range of topics was publicized online by a conservative political commentator who also included a screenshot of Rosenzweig's LinkedIn account and tagged senior Justice Department officials for their awareness.
Less than three hours after the post, the lawsuit says, Rosenzweig received an email signed by then- Attorney General Pam Bondi informing him that he had been fired. The news came as Rosenzweig was out of town with his family observing the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana.
The September 2025 termination was part of a sweeping personnel purge over the last year and a half inside the Justice Department, which has fired prosecutors who worked on investigations into Trump and others seen as being against the administration's efforts.
A lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami, where Rosenzweig worked as a federal prosecutor for five years, seeks reinstatement to the job as well as backpay and a court order declaring his firing unlawful. The complaint says Rosenzweig was a highly respected prosecutor who received “consistent praise and awards" and was so highly valued in his office that he was told just weeks before his firing that he would be getting a special parking spot due to his performance.
“Will Rosenzweig was an excellent prosecutor who returned millions of dollars to the taxpayers by prosecuting healthcare fraud cases,” said a statement from his lawyers, Margaret Donovan, Daniel Fridman and Adam Fels. “Yet the Department of Justice fired him on the eve of trial because, years ago as a private citizen, he published criticisms of President Trump. Since the current Department of Justice will not stand up for the First Amendment and the American people, we will. We look forward to vindicating Will’s rights in court.”
The blog Rosenzweig had maintained had been defunct for over six years at the time of his firing and included his thoughts on travel, sports and other “apolitical, anodyne topics,” in addition to critical observations about Trump and other political candidates, the lawsuit says. The conservative commentator, Natalie Winters, who has a large online following, characterized Rosenzweig as “a rogue Trump hater” as she posted screenshots of some of his political musings, according to the complaint, which characterizes the firing as a direct assault on Rosenzweig's free speech rights.
“The Department’s conduct rests on a single premise: a citizen must forever refrain from criticizing the government and its leaders to remain eligible to serve it,” the lawsuit says. “That rule would force every American who might one day serve to choose between speaking freely now and working for the government later. Conditioning public employment on political loyalty, where a party card rather than merit opens the door to a government job, is a way of life in Havana and Caracas. It has no place here.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium before a news conference, May 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
