Trump officials oust Abigail Slater as DOJ’s antitrust chief, sources say

Top Trump administration officials ousted Justice Department antitrust chief Abigail Slater and had discussions with her shortly before she announced on social media that she was leaving the department, sources told CBS News. 

Slater didn’t cite a reason for her departure in her statement on X, where she wrote, “It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today.”

But she had lost the trust of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, with one source adding they felt the only way to move the president’s agenda forward was through new leadership.

In her post as assistant attorney general for antitrust, she determined whether business merger deals would be approved or get derailed, and her every move was closely watched by the business community. 

For now, she will be replaced by Omeed Assefi, who previously served as acting assistant attorney general before Slater was confirmed and most recently served as deputy assistant general for criminal enforcement, sources told CBS News.

Trump officials believed Slater had undermined pending cases because of disagreements with leadership and had disobeyed requests, including to not embark on expensive travel to Europe and on other matters, two sources said. 

On one occasion, Slater angered Bondi when she traveled to a conference in Paris without following department rules on travel, prompting the department to cut off access to Slater’s government credit cards, two sources told CBS News.

Vice President JD Vance was aware of the fraught dynamics with Slater at the agency, two sources said.

Bondi in a statement to CBS News said: “On behalf of the Department of Justice, we thank Gail Slater for her service to the Antitrust Division which works to protect consumers, promote affordability, and expand economic opportunity.”

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts criticized Slater’s ouster, saying in a statement, “Americans’ top concern is affordability, but one of Trump’s few bipartisan-supported nominees — the top law enforcement official responsible for stopping illegal monopolies and protecting American consumers — was just ousted. Why? It looks like corruption. A small army of MAGA-aligned lawyers and lobbyists have been trying to sell off merger approvals that will increase prices and harm innovation to the highest bidder.” 

Warren continued, “Every antitrust case in front of the Trump Justice Department now reeks of double-dealing,” and added that “Congress has a responsibility to unearth exactly what happened and hold the Trump administration accountable.”

Slater had been on the job for less than a year. Her exit marks the end of a short tenure that was fraught with tension between her office and senior department leaders, sources told CBS News.

Earlier this month, Slater had announced on her X account that her chief of staff would be stepping down, only to later delete the post. Semafor reported that Slater had sought to terminate Sara Matar, by not renewing her contract, but was overruled by Bondi. Such personnel decisions typically involve a bureaucratic approval process.

And amid a dispute related to the Justice Department’s settlement greenlighting Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, Justice Department chief of staff and Acting Associate Attorney General Chad Mizelle fired Roger Alford, who had served in the first Trump administration and was Slater’s top deputy, and Bill Rinner, a former counsel at hedge fund Apollo Global Management who was in charge of merger enforcement. 

In a scathing speech in August, Alford blasted “MAGA-In-Name-Only lobbyists and DOJ officials” who were pursuing an antitrust agenda that curried favor with special interests. In his speech, he specifically criticized Mizelle, as well as Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.

“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,” Alford said at the time.

After Slater’s ouster, Mizelle posted on X, “No one is entitled to work at DOJ. You must be willing to put aside personal agendas and vendettas to advance the President’s priorities and serve the American people.”

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this report said Abigail Slater had fired Roger Alford and Bill Rinner, but then-Justice Department chief of staff Chad Mizelle fired Alford and Rinner. The article has been updated.