Federal prosecutors told to document judge hurdles in Antifa cases

Justice Department leaders have ordered federal prosecutors to give them by Friday examples of obstacles they encountered with judges when working on cases involving attacks on law enforcement and Antifa.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office sent the order a day before to some U.S. attorneys, according to a memo reviewed by Fox News Digital. The memo asks prosecutors to give “2 to 3 examples of unusual justice system obstacles” that their offices have encountered in courts in certain regions. The memo was first reported by Reuters.

The areas were presented in a bulleted list and included assaults on law enforcement, obstruction of immigration authorities, investigations of certain “domestic terrorist organizations, such as Antifa” or “interstate threats, doxxing and/or hoaxes.”

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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC, February 12, 2025. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Judicial hurdles, the memo said, should be those that arise when prosecutors file charges, plead cases or conduct other legal proceedings.

The directive marks the latest example of the Justice Department targeting the justice system as prosecutors fail to secure charges and convictions in some high-profile cases and as the Trump administration faces hundreds of lawsuits and frequent adverse rulings in lower courts.

It also comes after Blanche denounced what he called “rogue activist judges” and declared “war” on them at a Federalist Society convention last week.

Federal agents confront protesters outside the ICE building in Portland, Oregon, on September 28, 2025, after President Trump ordered military troops to be deployed to protect ICE facilities. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a DOJ spokesperson said “judicial activists – liberals in robes” were inappropriately blocking the administration’s work and sometimes undermining the Supreme Court.

“Courts exist to enforce the law, not to invent policies from their own judges,” the spokesperson said. “The Department is committed to strengthening our litigation posture at all levels so that we can better defend public safety initiatives and prevent activist judges from undermining the rule of law.”

Prosecutors have faced obstacles in court in many areas, including immigration, federal appointments and firings, government funding, transgender policies, fights with big law firms and more. On rare occasions, the administration has turned to the Supreme Court for temporary relief in crucial cases and has almost always won.

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U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is seen at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, DC (Getty Images)

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The DOJ this year filed misconduct complaints against two Washington, D.C. judges, Judge James Boasberg and Judge Ana Reyes, appointed by Obama and Biden, respectively.

Judge Mark Wolf, 78, a Reagan appointee, recently announced his retirement in the Atlantic and attributed it to his desire to denounce Trump’s “attack on the rule of law.” Wolf said he now plans “to defend judges who cannot speak publicly for themselves.”