Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee About “Compromised” Stanley Woodward
Senate Judiciary Letter - Stanley Woodward
August 29, 2025
Chair Grassley and Ranking Member Durbin
Senate Judiciary Committee
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Re: “Compromised” Stanley Woodward must be required to disclose communications with lobbyists before a full Senate vote on his nomination to be Associate Attorney General
Dear Chair Grassley and Ranking Member Durbin:
As you are aware, on May 21, 2025, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing[1] on Stanley Woodward’s nomination to be Associate Attorney General, the third-ranking official at the Department of Justice. Mr. Woodward’s nomination was reported out of committee and currently awaits consideration by the full Senate.[2] However, in advance of a full Senate confirmation vote on Mr. Woodward’s nomination, I write to bring to your attention deeply troubling new information recently disclosed by a high-ranking former Trump Administration DOJ official. We believe this information seriously calls into question Mr. Woodward’s fitness for this important job. We request that you schedule a hearing prior to any Senate floor vote to give Mr. Woodward an opportunity to answer questions and shed light on these concerns.
- Corruption of Antitrust Enforcement: Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a stunning story headlined: “Bondi Aides Corrupted Antitrust Enforcement, Ousted DOJ Official says.”[3] The Journal reported that Roger Alford, until recently the second-in-command of the DOJ’s antitrust division, has alleged that that Mr. Woodward, in his current role as Counselor to Attorney General Bondi, along with AG Bondi’s Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle, have been corrupting the DOJ’s independent law-enforcement process for dealing with antitrust lawsuits by taking meetings and cutting deals with favored corporate lobbyists and outside lawyers. According to the Journal, Woodward and Mizelle were heavily involved in negotiating a proposed DOJ antitrust settlement in June that allowed Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to acquire a competitor, Juniper Network in a $14 billion deal. Mr. Alford and another former senior antitrust enforcer, William Rinner, were fired after objecting to the involvement of lobbyists and politically connected lawyers in the HPE-Juniper antitrust settlement talks, according to the Journal.
- Perverted Justice: In a recent speech entitled “The Rule of Law Versus the Rule of Lobbyists,” describing what he observed at DOJ, Mr. Alford said: “. . .corrupt lobbyists with no relevant expertise are perverting actual law enforcement through money, power, relationships, and influence.”[4] He continued: “Although I am limited in what I can say, it is my opinion that in the HPE/Juniper merger scandal Chad Mizelle and Stanley Woodward perverted justice and acted inconsistent with the rule of law.”[5] Alford described a climate in which it is known that these officials are making key antitrust decisions depending on whether the request or information comes from certain lobbyists, and companies are consequently “hiring lawyers and influence peddlers to bolster their MAGA credentials and pervert traditional law enforcement.”[6] Mr. Alford described Mr. Mizelle and Mr. Woodward’s ability to oversee DOJ antitrust matters as “compromised.”[7]
- Lobbying DOJ: The revelations about Mr. Woodward’s role in DOJ’s proposed settlement of the HPE-Juniper antitrust case raise the question of whether there are other antitrust matters Mr. Woodward has influenced after meeting with lobbyists? In his written response to a question from Ranking Member Durbin, Mr. Woodward said he “started in my current role at the Department of Justice on April 1st [2025]”.[8] According to a Public Citizen review of lobbying filings, Ballard Partners – Attorney General Bondi’s former lobbying firm[9] – was paid $150,000 between April 1 and June 30, 2025 to lobby the Department of Justice on behalf of client American Express Global Business Travel (AmEx GBT) on “Antitrust issues.”[10] While the lobbying reports do specifically disclose that lobbyists Brian Ballard and Justin Sayfie lobbied DOJ during that time on behalf of AmEx GBT, they do not state the names of who at DOJ they lobbied. Given the fact that DOJ suddenly dismissed its antitrust case against AmEx GBT last month[11], it’s imperative that Senators know whether Mr. Woodward met with the Ballard lobbyists.
Given these revelations, prior to Mr. Woodward’s nomination being considered by the full Senate I urge you to invite Mr. Woodward to come back before the Judiciary Committee at a hearing to detail any conversations, communications, or meetings he has had with lobbyists, consultants, or other individuals being paid to stop the Department of Justice from aggressively engaging in antitrust enforcement. If it is the case, as Mr. Alford has alleged, that Mr. Woodward has been taking meetings and cutting deals with favored corporate lobbyists and outside lawyers to impede antitrust enforcement, he should not be confirmed as Associate AG.
Sincerely,
Jon Golinger
Democracy Advocate
Public Citizen
cc: All Members, Senate Judiciary Committee
[1] U.S. Senate Committee On The Judiciary Hearing, 5/21/25; https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/05/21/2025/nominations
[2] PN129-16 – Stanley Woodward Jr. – Department of Justice; https://www.congress.gov/nomination/119th-congress/129/16
[3] “Bondi Aides Corrupted Antitrust Enforcement, Ousted DOJ Official Says,” Wall Street Journal, 8/18/25; https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/bondi-aides-corrupted-antitrust-enforcement-ousted-doj-official-says-466ed838?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAil2o30tGCh8fL120MyjWTZ_KqOOVokfp-Pc0i57eYQU-bBZ8jeKr2ENw82htk%3D&gaa_ts=68adda52&gaa_sig=_620mPzSaiAMrwLOdu6Crhf1C9najOE6np0PWhjIGBrhPwN5z7Ju79RUSwU3BZDAQ6qw4FIvdyZMWiMltu37Yg%3D%3D
[4] “The Rule of Law Versus The Rule of Lobbyists,” Roger P. Alford, 8/18/25, p. 3; https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5396537
[5] Id., p. 3
[6] Id., p. 4.
[7] Id., p. 6
[8] Stanley Woodward, Jr. Responses to Questions for the Record, 5/28/25, p. 4; https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2025-05-21_qfrresponses_woodward.pdf
[9] “D.C. Firm Ballard Partners Lobbying Department of Justice Run by Former Ballard Lobbyist Pam Bondi, New Filings Show,” Public Citizen, 7/24/25; https://www.citizen.org/news/d-c-firm-ballard-partners-lobbying-department-of-justice-run-by-former-ballard-lobbyist-pam-bondi-new-filings-show/
[10] Lobbying Disclosure Act Report for Ballard Partners on behalf of client American Express Global Business Travel, filed 7/14/25; https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/6aeb36f0-f6d3-47b9-a09a-ef7701c9f8dd/print/
[11] “AmEx GBT Announces Dismissal of US Department of Justice Lawsuit Challenging CWT Acquisition,” 7/29/25; https://investors.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/investors/news/news-details/2025/Amex-GBT-Announces-Dismissal-of-US-Department-of-Justice-Lawsuit-Challenging-CWT-Acquisition/default.aspx