The Justice Department has fired at least four prosecutors who were involved in prosecutions under the FACE Act during the Biden administration, a government official familiar with the firings told CBS News.
Among those fired Monday is Sanjay Patel, a longtime federal prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division's criminal section who was placed on administrative leave last month, sources told CBS News at the time. The terminations occurred at about the same time a report on the FACE Act and the Biden Justice Department was being finalized.
Congress passed the FACE Act in 1994 to address rising concerns about threats and intimidation that women were facing at reproductive health clinics. Nonviolent and first-time offenses of the law are misdemeanors, while repeat offenses or violations that result in bodily injury or death can be treated as felonies.
The FACE Act report is being drafted by the Justice Department's "weaponization working group," established in the first days of former Attorney General Pam Bondi's tenure.
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