Drew Angerer/Getty Images
- A group of 20 former Republican US attorneys endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday, calling President Donald Trump “a threat to the rule of law,” according to the Washington Post.
- One of the most prominent signatories is William H. Webster, served as both FBI and CIA director under former president Ronald Reagan.
- The letter is the latest in a series of high-profile GOP endorsements for Biden, who has stressed the need for unity and bipartisanship throughout his entire presidential campaign.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
A group of 20 former Republican US attorneys, including a FBI and CIA director under former president Ronald Reagan, endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday, calling President Donald Trump “a threat to the rule of law” in an open letter.
“The President has clearly conveyed that he expects his Justice Department appointees and prosecutors to serve his personal and political interests,” wrote the former US attorneys. “He has politicized the Justice Department, dictating its priorities along political lines and breaking down the barrier that prior administrations had maintained between political and prosecutorial decision-making.”
The letter was signed by appointees from a long line of Republican presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush. Two of the most prominent signatories are William H. Webster, who was a US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri from 1960 to 1961 and served as both FBI and CIA director in the Reagan administration, and William Weld, who was a US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1981 to 1986 and state’s governor from 1991 to 1997.
In April 2019, Weld announced his candidacy to challenge Trump in the 2020 GOP presidential primary, but he suspended his campaign this past March.
The letter continued with praise of Biden’s leadership, with the prosecutors saying that the state of the judiciary would be starkly different under the former vice president.
"In contrast with President Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden has devoted his career to supporting law enforcement, protecting the independence of the Justice Department, and working to ensure that the federal government exercises its law enforcement powers fairly and impartially and in the interests of all Americans," the attorneys continued in the letter. "Joe Biden understands that unity – and not division – is the key to meeting the challenges that our country is facing."
The letter represents the latest in a series of GOP endorsements for Biden, from members of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project to dozens of former GOP members of Congress to former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele.
This past August, dozens of Republican national security officials wrote an open letter where they announced their support for Biden over Trump, according to the Washington Post.