The Law Comes First

The job of the Attorney General is to defend the Rule of Law, not the President's political agenda.

The Robert F. Kennedy Building in Washington, D.C., which is home to the headquarters of the United States Department of Justice. Photographed by w:User:Coolcaesar on August 12, 2006.

Checks & Balances is a newsletter of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute

By Alberto R. Gonzales

As the 80th Attorney General of the United States, I know the Department of Justice demands more than legal skill. It demands judgment, courage, humility, and a willingness to say no—even to a President. The DOJ prosecutes crimes, protects civil rights, defends the United States, and gives legal voice to the rule of law. When it acts independently, it strengthens the Republic. When it bends to politics or personality, it weakens public trust.

I do not write as someone untouched by high office. I made mistakes. Every Attorney General does. The job tests judgment under conditions of speed, secrecy, loyalty, fear, and immense consequence. It often exposes our imperfections. That truth should not excuse failure, but it should teach humility.

That burden has grown heavier after Trump v. United States. The Supreme Court held that a former President has absolute immunity for actions within his conclusive constitutional authority, presumptive immunity for other official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts. Whatever one thinks of the result, the decision expands the practical space in which presidential power may operate without later criminal accountability.

That makes the Attorney General’s role more consequential. If courts may not review many presidential acts after the fact, the Attorney General must check abuse before the fact. He must tell the President when the law permits action, when it forbids action, and when power, though legally available, should not be used because it would damage the Constitution, weaken the rule of law, or hurt the American people.

The Department’s career professionals make that mission possible. Prosecutors, investigators, lawyers, agents, and public servants carry the law’s work across administrations. They serve the Constitution and the people, not a party. A wise Attorney General protects them from political pressure and insists that justice be pursued without fear or favor.

The Attorney General leads the Department, but he also serves as its guardian. He must protect victims, defend civil rights, preserve independence, and give the President candid legal advice—not political cover. The oath of office runs to the Constitution, not to a President, a party, or any person. Loyalty to the President can never outrank fidelity to the Constitution.

That duty includes protecting victims, including those harmed by Jeffrey Epstein, and completing the public accounting the law requires. Behind every sealed page are human beings who were exploited, harmed, and too often ignored by powerful people and institutions. If the law requires the release of remaining documents, continued failure to release them is an affront to the rule of law, the American people, and especially the victims, who deserve truth, accountability, and the dignity of being heard.

That duty also requires moral courage. When the President asks for something the law does not allow, or when political allies demand prosecutions unsupported by evidence, the Attorney General must say no. A President may order an investigation or prosecution of anyone, but no Attorney General should comply if he believes in good faith, based on his education and training, that the order rests on politics, personal grievance, or vendetta rather than facts and law. He should first try to change the President’s position. If he cannot, he should quietly and respectfully resign.

This is not always simple. The President often knows more than any single Cabinet officer—intelligence, diplomatic information, national security or law enforcement assessments, or political context unavailable to others. That knowledge may explain an order that first appears unwise or troubling. The Attorney General must listen, ask hard questions, and respect the President’s office and the judgment affirmed by the people. Trust in the President’s integrity matters. But trust cannot become blindness, and respect cannot become surrender.

Leadership at the Department should inspire confidence, not fear; candor, not silence. When career investigators and prosecutors leave in large numbers or are fired for doing their jobs, the country should pay attention. Such departures may signal a breakdown of trust, an erosion of independence, or a culture in which public servants doubt the institution will protect law above politics.

The same principle applies to elections and political violence. The Attorney General must defend the legitimacy of democratic processes when evidence supports them, protect the peaceful transfer of power, and prevent personal loyalty, partisan grievance, or fear from distorting the Department’s judgment. The Attorney General must never allow the Department to be used as a political weapon.

The prosecutions arising from the January 6 attack on our nation’s capital tested whether the country would defend the rule of law when pressure came from the highest levels of politics. The Department was right to pursue those cases based on facts and law—not vengeance, fear, or political convenience.

My faith teaches that truth requires courage and humility together. Courage without humility becomes pride. Humility without courage becomes silence. An Attorney General must know his own imperfections and still defend the law when it costs him something.

The Department of Justice remains one of the Republic’s last lines of defense. After Trump v. United States, that defense matters even more. Some presidential acts may never face criminal review, making internal restraint, legal candor, and institutional courage indispensable.

The office will always expose human weakness. It exposed mine. That is why the country needs Attorneys General who acknowledge their limits, welcome accountability, protect career professionals, resist improper pressure, and remember that their oath is to the Constitution. At moments of crisis, the Attorney General must stand where the Constitution places him: close enough to advise the President, independent enough to restrain him, and courageous enough to walk away when fidelity to law requires it. The law—not any President, party, person, or ambition—commands his first loyalty. The American people deserve nothing less.

Alberto R. Gonzales served as U.S. Attorney General and Counsel to the President in the George W. Bush administration.

^{The Society for the Rule of Law Institute publishes guest essays to foster thoughtful discussion on issues relating to the Constitution and the Rule of Law. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.}