Democrats are demanding answers about a shifting work focus, diminished staffing and demands of Trump loyalty within the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, including from the Californian at its helm.

Hundreds of lawyers and other staff members are fleeing the arm of the agency that defends constitutional rights, which appointees intend to reshape to enact President Trump’s agenda.

Trump Justice Department officials are overseeing a purge of the department’s civil rights division to repurpose the agency from its official mandate of opposing discrimination and curtailing police abuse to encouraging police repression,