Washington Harmeet Dhillon, the Republican national committeewoman for California and a well-known conservative attorney, was appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Trump wrote on social media that Dhillon has continuously stood up to defend our valued civil liberties when he announced her selection as assistant attorney general. Trump praised Dhillon’s history of opposing large tech firms, standing out for religious freedom, and bringing legal action against companies that discriminate against their employees through discriminatory policies.
Dhillon rose to attention as a Republican supporter in liberal San Francisco during the first Trump presidency. She made the case for Trump supporters, who claimed that demonstrators had attacked them and that they were being persecuted because of their conservative views.
She filed a lawsuit against the city of San Jose, California, in 2016 on behalf of Trump supporters who were assaulted by counter-protesters, claiming that the officials’ inaction was influenced by their political stance.
Additionally, Dhillon defended a Google employee who was let go after circulating a document claiming that biological differences make men more fit for computing professions than women. In a complaint against the computer giant, she said that Google combined open animosity toward conservative ideas with discriminatory practices that hurt white men.
Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said the appointment of Harmeet Dhillon to head this important civil rights office is just another obvious indication that this administration prioritizes ideological views over the rights and safeguards that safeguard all citizens of this nation.
Dhillon brought several challenges against California Governor Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders during the Covid outbreak on behalf of religious leaders who wished to hold services and business owners who wanted to continue operating. Dhillon’s efforts garnered her national media attention and strengthened her relationship with Trump as opposition to pandemic limits increased.
In a more recent case, Dhillon defended Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News personality, against a former producer who accused him of gender discrimination. She is presently the attorney representing a California lady who is suing Kaiser Permanente for providing her with gender-affirming care as a teenager that she subsequently came to regret.
Wiley went on to say that Dhillon has dedicated her professional life to undermining civil rights rather than upholding or defending them. She has fought to limit voting rights rather than to increase them.
Dhillon co-chaired Lawyers for Trump in 2020, a group of conservative attorneys who provided their services to support Trump’s attempts to rescind the election results. She made a failed attempt to succeed Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chairwoman at the time, three years later. She most recently oversaw the election integrity team for the Trump campaign in Arizona during the general election in 2024.
Kristen Clarke, the first Black woman to head the division, would be replaced by Dhillon if confirmed. Dhillon’s candidacy is historic in and of itself; if it is approved, she will become the second Indian-American and the first Republican woman to command the division.
As a practicing Sikh who was born in India, Dhillon is also expected to become the first Sikh American to occupy the role, which the advocacy group The Sikh Coalition called a historic moment.
Accurate portrayal of community issues, even in the halls of power, was another addition made by the committee.
Dhillon’s nomination joins an increasing number of Trump’s attorneys and supporters who have been selected for important positions at the Justice Department, including his appellate attorney D. John Sauer as solicitor general, his criminal defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove as her immediate deputies, and his impeachment attorney Pam Bondi as attorney general.
Throughout the week, conservative sympathizers have praised Dhillon’s candidacy and voiced hope that she will steer the party away from the Biden administration’s agenda.
According to Roger Severino, a vice president at the conservative Heritage Foundation who worked as a career lawyer in the DOJ’s civil rights division for seven years, Biden’s administration took a whole-of-government approach to try to institutionalize woke DEI policies and force them on the American people.
He stated, “It’s difficult to imagine anyone more qualified than she is to tackle these issues.”
Mark Geragos, a well-known Democrat and criminal defense attorney from Los Angeles who joined Dhillon in opposing California’s stay-at-home mandates during the pandemic, also endorsed Dhillon’s nomination.
Her presence in the civil rights division will be beneficial. In an interview with NBC News, Geragos stated, “I think they’ll be surprised because very few people on my side of the aisle will agree with that.”
Members of Dhillon’s business have represented the president-elect and his campaign in a number of court cases in addition to her personal work for Trump. The Trump campaign’s general counsel and partner at Dhillon Law Group, David Warrington, was announced last week as Trump’s choice for White House counsel. Additionally, Warrington has defended Trump in civil cases resulting from the unrest on January 6.
Dhillon and Warrington were most famously on the legal team that defended Trump in his early 2024 battle to remain on the ballot after the Colorado Supreme Court declared that he was ineligible because of a 14th Amendment clause that forbids insurrectionists from serving in federal office. The matter ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which rendered a unanimous decision permitting Trump to continue running for president.
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