Mike Howell Eyes DOJ Seat on Weaponization Panel

Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, made a bid on Wednesday to serve on the Justice Department panel that will oversee more than $1.7 billion in payments to individuals who claim to be victimized by the “weaponization” of the federal government.

“I’m running,” Howell wrote on X. “A better tomorrow will be based on restorative justice TODAY.”

“President Trump’s leadership and selflessness have provided victims a historic opportunity with the Anti-Weaponization Fund,” Howell continued. “My colleagues and I at the Oversight Project … are ready to serve.”

In a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that Howell posted Wednesday on X, the attorney formally declared his candidacy for one of five seats on the commission that manages the department’s newly established “anti-weaponization fund.”

Blanche, who is responsible for appointing members to the panel, announced the fund on Monday.

In his letter, Howell pointed to his experience advocating on behalf of individuals he says were targeted by federal law enforcement.

“I have testified before the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and have appeared on national television and radio to lay out the cases of ordinary Americans targeted by federal law enforcement for their political views, their faith, and their exercise of constitutionally protected rights,” Howell wrote. He added that he has “written, sued, defended, and advocated every single day to this end.”

Howell said in his letter that, if appointed, he would organize a national gathering in Washington for those he described as victims of “weaponization,” including those who were forced to pay legal fees or served prison time, such as those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol protest.

If selected, Howell would help oversee payments to claimants through the fund, which the Justice Department has said will operate through 2028.

Howell is considered by many to be an ally of Ed Martin, the Justice Department’s pardon attorney, and previously advocated for pardons or commutations for more than 1,500 individuals charged in connection with the riot at the Capitol.

In addition to leading the Oversight Project—which aims to expose corruption in government and other institutions—Howell serves as a visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center. The group is also involved in ongoing litigation seeking the release of materials, including audio recordings from former President Joe Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur.

As a visiting fellow, Howell has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, and especially his campaign promise regarding mass deportation.

“The Trump Administration is substantially off pace to ‘carry out the largest deportation operation in American history,'” Howell previously wrote. “To achieve the President’s mandate, all parts of the Trump Administration need to substantially scale up enforcement activities.”