Jonathan Gross, a former congregational rabbi of 15 years who became a civil rights lawyer at 38, was appointed by President Trump as senior counsel to Harmeet Dhillon at the DOJ Civil Rights Division to investigate government weaponization — but discovered the new administration had no intention of draining the swamp, instead protecting the very prosecutors who had targeted Trump and his supporters.
Jonathan Gross’s path to DOJ
Served as a congregational rabbi in Omaha, Nebraska for 10 years, following his grandfather’s footsteps, before leaving to attend law school at age 37 with four young children and his wife’s encouragement.
Worked at a civil rights firm doing religious liberty cases, then quit after January 6 to represent defendants pro bono or for nominal fees, eventually advising nearly 100 J6 defendants and representing over 20.
Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced him to J6 defendants and helped him enter the space; he hoped to lead the Capitol Siege Unit to investigate its origins but was shocked when the unit was immediately shuttered and its records buried.
Appointed senior counsel to Harmeet Dhillon (Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights) with a single agenda: expose weaponization.
The weaponization working group was a sham
Volunteered to represent Civil Rights on the weaponization working group; attended only a couple of meetings before they were canceled, with zero staff or funding allocated.
NPR published a hit piece in July 2025 revealing his involvement — suggesting internal leaks — but DOJ showed no interest in investigating the leak.
No quarterly reports on J6 were ever produced; the group existed only as window dressing.
Wrote internal reports on weaponization cases and circulated them via email for FOIA transparency; was explicitly told to “pause” and “no January 6 stuff” by superiors who acknowledged the problems but refused to act.
Todd Blanche and the prosecutor revolving door
Todd Blanche, a lifelong Democrat, spent eight years as a prosecutor in SDNY under Obama — the office Gross calls “the worst of all the weaponized offices” — where they prosecuted Dinesh D’Souza for a $15,000 campaign violation with no identifiable victim.
Left SDNY for WilmerHale (partner alongside Robert Mueller), then Cadwalder, then represented Trump in the New York hush-money case (lost 34-0) before being appointed Attorney General.
White-collar defense at top firms is effectively lobbying: former prosecutors trade on relationships to secure favorable plea deals, creating a revolving door that incentivizes weaponization.
Blanche’s deputies and DOJ leadership are career prosecutors from U.S. Attorney offices nationwide — the same people who ran the Capitol Siege Unit — not reformers.
The pardon economy: access sold for hundreds of thousands
A predatory market has emerged where lawyers charge desperate families $300,000–$500,000 upfront plus $1–2 million success fees, claiming “access” to Todd Blanche or the White House.
No invoices, no guarantees; the high price signals seriousness to clients. Gross knows multiple families who paid and got nothing.
Trump could destroy this economy by systematically reviewing cases and granting pardons based on merit, not access — but the current haphazard process relies on catching the president’s attention.
Gross filed J6ers Were Destroyed by Weaponization v. Blanche seeking only an investigation into coercive plea deals (Stalinist tactics: pre-dawn raids with media, threatening family members, trial penalties); DOJ refused a 1-hour meeting with J6ers and moved to dismiss.
Specific cases of injustice Gross witnessed or investigated
Dr. Kirk Moore (Utah): Gave children saline instead of COVID vaccines to protect them from mandates; charged with “destruction of government property,” faced 35 years. Pam Bondi dismissed charges mid-trial only after Marjorie Taylor Greene alerted her — proving a stroke of the pen can end persecution, but the prosecutor (Todd Boutton) faced no consequences.
Nick Seoto: Made $2 vaccine passport cards under necessity; sentenced to prison and restitution under Biden, served time under Trump, remains on strict probation. Trump could pardon him instantly.
Ken Ravenel (Maryland): Black Democrat, top criminal defense attorney from sharecropper roots; prosecuted after a 25-year-sentence drug dealer was flipped to testify Ravenel advised “use cash, meet in person” — standard legal advice. Convicted on 1-2 of 10 charges, senior citizen now in federal prison with health issues.
Victoria White (Minnesota): Single mom tackled Antifa member smashing Capitol window; punched repeatedly by Officer Jason Bagshaw, permanently injured. Forced to plead guilty to felony to avoid orphaning her children; civil suit dismissed because plea labeled her an insurrectionist. Minneapolis FBI field office refused to pursue BLM/anti-ICE violence but aggressively targeted J6ers.
Shaina Gaviola (California): Single mother rescued her son from secret school gender transition; violated protective order crossing state lines to deprogramming school. Convicted of rescuing her own child; headmaster acquitted. Now in federal prison; children sent to CPS. DOJ ignored Gross’s appeals.
Kyle Meanie (Kentucky): Police supervisor charged under 18 USC 241 (deprivation of civil rights, death penalty eligible) for insufficiently supervising warrant writer in Breonna Taylor raid — not present at raid. Case dropped under Trump but no accountability for prosecutors; career attorneys who signed Biden-era indictments remain in place.
Ron Elfenbein (Maryland): Doctor promoted monoclonal antibodies for COVID; targeted 4 months later on unrelated process crime. Jury convicted, but Obama-appointed chief judge wrote 95-page opinion overturning verdict: “government did not prove its case.” DOJ appealed and is retrying him in January 2026 — likely because he defied the COVID regime.
Return to the Land (Arkansas): Small intentional community of European-heritage families raising goats; hit with four open-ended investigations (Arkansas securities, HUD, DOJ Civil Rights x2) with zero victims or complaints. HUD accidentally sent Gross a letter meant for “Epic” — a $40M Muslim community in Texas with actual complaints — which received apologetic treatment and closure in two months. Return to the Land got accusatory letters, no conciliation offer except $50,000 to a “victim compensation fund” with no identified victims. Gross sued Dhillon and HUD Secretary Greg Trainer; DOJ ignored all pre-suit emails.
Terror watch list abuse against J6 defendants
All J6 defendants placed on FBI Terrorist Screening Center watch list based on “reasonable suspicion” from mere proximity to Capitol — disseminated to local police (guns-drawn traffic stops) and foreign governments (detentions abroad), but defendants never notified.
No appeal process; list persists. When Trump pardoned J6ers, they were removed with a click — proving political control. Gross plans lawsuit; DOJ showed zero interest in investigating.
Confrontation with Harmeet Dhillon and departure
Brought J6 victims (including Enrique Tarrio, sentenced to 22 years despite not being at Capitol) into Main Justice to tell their stories; checked them through security properly.
Reported to Dhillon by ODAG (Blanche’s office); Dhillon told Gross: “The only reason somebody like that should be coming into the office is with their lawyer to basically give a proffer… We are the DOJ now. We protect the DOJ.”
Dhillon said victims must hire connected lawyers for access — effectively endorsing a ransom system. Gross was stunned; two witnesses present.
Placed on paid leave, moved to empty building, stripped of cases, then pressured to resign. Gross quit in March 2026 after one year; performance review shows no disciplinary issues, thanks him for service.
Since leaving, Gross receives no response from DOJ on Return to the Land or other cases — “I don’t have access.”
Systemic capture: why reformers become defenders
Lawyers in these positions are conditioned from childhood to obey authority (Ivy League pipeline, Pavlovian instinct); their identity and career depend on the system.
They cannot see the corruption because they are produced by it; cognitive dissonance prevents self-recognition.
Gross: “It takes a great person to throw all of that away.” The prizes (prestige, promotion, ribbons) are not worth winning in a corrupt system.
Trump’s second term could be “the great emancipation” if he audits offices, appoints independent reviewers, and pardons thousands — but time is running out.
