Justice Department fired official whose husband operated controversial ICEBlock app

Source: CBS News

August 1, 2025 / 8:54 AM EDT


Carolyn Feinstein said she initially thought the message sent to her private email address on a late Friday afternoon was a scheme or a prank. It turned out that she was being fired from her federal job. Once Feinstein read the email, she discovered her work cellphone was no longer operating.

Feinstein's decade of work as a forensic auditor for the Justice Department's Office of Trustee — which helps oversee bankruptcies — ended on July 18, when her employment was terminated in a three-paragraph message sent by an agency administrator.

"This is a big loss to me," Feinstein told CBS News. "I have dedicated my career to the mission of the U.S. Trustee program. I believe strongly in that mission. I would get up every day knowing that my actions professionally were helping. They were adding to the greater good."

Feinstein joins dozens of other Justice Department employees who have been ousted this year. Her firing was conducted in a similar fashion to other Justice Department terminations, via an email from the agency that cited the administration's "Article II" power to fire employees. "I felt like I was just kind of left in the dark, because that termination letter really didn't explain anything to me," Feinstein said.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-fired-official-whose-husband-operated-controversial-iceblock-app/