Prosecutor Fired Over Blog Posts Critical of Trump Sues the Justice Department

A former federal prosecutor who was fired last year over critical comments he had written about President Donald Trump as a private citizen sued the Justice Department on Friday, arguing that 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 was publicized online by a conservative political commentator, who also posted a screenshot of his LinkedIn account and tagged senior Justice Department officials "for their awareness," according to the complaint.

Less than three hours after that post, the lawsuit says, Rosenzweig received an email signed by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi informing him he had been fired. He was out of town with his family observing the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana at the time.

The September 2025 dismissal was part of a sweeping personnel purge over the past year and a half inside the department, which has fired prosecutors who worked on investigations into Trump and others viewed as opposed to the administration's efforts.

The suit, filed in federal court in Miami, where Rosenzweig worked as a federal prosecutor for five years, seeks reinstatement, back pay and a court order declaring the firing unlawful.

The complaint describes Rosenzweig as a highly respected prosecutor who received "consistent praise and awards," and says he was told just weeks before his firing that he would be given a special parking spot because of 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."

The blog had been defunct for more than six years at the time of the firing and covered travel, sports and other "apolitical, anodyne topics" alongside critical observations about Trump and other political candidates, the lawsuit says.

The commentator, Natalie Winters, described Rosenzweig as "a rogue Trump hater" as she posted screenshots of some of his political musings, according to the complaint.

"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. Conditioning public employment on political loyalty, it adds, "is a way of life in Havana and Caracas. It has no place here."

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment, citing pending litigation.