Ryan Crosswell
Ryan Crosswell | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1980 (age 45–46) Pottsville, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic (2024–present) Republican (until 2024) |
| Education | Vanderbilt University (BA) Duke University (MA; JD) |
| Occupation | Attorney |
Ryan Crosswell (born 1980) is an American attorney. He served as a prosecutor for the U.S. Justice Department in Louisiana and California and then became a trial attorney in the Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C. He resigned in February 2025 after Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered federal prosecutors to dismiss the case against New York mayor Eric Adams.
In his resignation letter, which was published in the Washington Post, Crosswell said he left because it was improper for Bove to pressure attorneys in the public integrity unit to sign a motion that Bove had acknowledged “was not based on the facts or the law.”
Crosswell testified about his resignation before a panel of Democratic members of the House and Senate judiciary committees. He told the panel, “The public integrity section has protected the American people against abuses of power for nearly 50 years, but it was nearly eliminated in an hour.”
In June 2025, Crosswell announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 7th District of Pennsylvania. He came in 2nd in the Democratic primary in May 2026.
Early life and education
[edit]Crosswell grew up in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.[1][2] He is the son of Deborah and Robert Crosswell, who was the owner of a Coca-Cola bottling company.[3][4]
He attended Pottsville Area High School and was a member of the wrestling and cross country teams.[5][3] He graduated in 1999 and attended Vanderbilt University, where he majored in secondary education and history. He graduated from Vanderbilt in 2003.[6][1]
Crosswell enrolled at Duke University to earn a Juris Doctor degree and a master's degree in history.[1] He also enrolled at the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, where he attended Basic School and received combat training.[3] He has said he was motivated to join the Marines because of the Sep 11 attacks.[1]
In 2007, he graduated from Duke with a Juris Doctor degree and a master's degree in history.[3] He later joined the Marine Corps Reserve and served as a lieutenant colonel.[7]
Law career
[edit]After law school, Crosswell joined the Charlotte, N.C. office of Littler Mendelson, a firm that specializes in labor and employment law.[8][9] He then became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Justice Department, working in offices in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and San Diego, California, before joining the Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C.[10]
As an attorney for the Justice Department, he prosecuted 374 criminal cases involving bribery, fraud, campaign finance, drug trafficking and immigration. They included cases involving the former governor of Puerto Rico, who was charged with bribery, and a New Mexico political candidate who was convicted of a shooting spree targeting elected officials and a subsequent plot to murder witnesses to prevent their testimony at trial.[10][11][12]
After he resigned from the Justice Department, he joined Singleton Schreiber,[1] a San Diego-based firm that practices injury law against organizations.[13][14][15]
Resignation from Justice Department
[edit]On February 10, 2025, Emil Bove, then the acting deputy attorney general, dismissed federal corruption charges against New York mayor Eric Adams, saying that the indictment interfered with the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.[16] The move to dismiss the case led to several resignations.[17][18]
Crosswell, who was not involved in the case, resigned on February 17.[19] He said in his resignation letter that Bove pressured the remaining public corruption attorneys to sign a motion to end the case and threatened to fire them if they would not help end the Adams case. The Washington Post published his letter on March 6.[20][21]
On April 7, Crosswell testified at a congressional hearing of Democratic members of the House and Senate judiciary committees.[22] He said the department's decision to drop the corruption case had a devastating impact. “The public integrity section has protected the American people against abuses of power for nearly 50 years, but it was nearly eliminated in an hour,” he said.[23]
Political activity
[edit]After Crosswell resigned from the Justice Department, he moved from Washington, D.C., to Allentown.[24]
In June 2025, Crosswell, announced he was running as a Democrat in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, which was held by Republican Ryan Mackenzie.[25] Crosswell was one of seven Democrats competing for the party's nomination in the May 19, 2026, primary election, and finished 2nd in that primary behind Bob Brooks.[6][26]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Reinhard, Katherine (June 9, 2025). "Former DOJ trial attorney enters 7th Congressional District race". Armchair Lehigh Valley. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Ulrich, Steve (June 9, 2025). "Ryan Crosswell Announces Candidacy for PA-07 Congressional Seat". www.politicspa.com/. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Local runner inspires". The News-Item (Shamokin, Penn.) (accessed through NewsBank). February 2, 2008. p. 1.
- ↑ "Pottsville Coca-Cola Bottling Co. sold as owner enters retirement". Pottsville Republican Herald. September 19, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "PA-Wrestling.com : Your online resource for Pennsylvania Wrestling". www.pa-wrestling.com. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- 1 2 Rubashkin, Jacob (May 15, 2025). "Pennsylvania 7: Long Road Ahead in the Lehigh Valley". Inside Elections. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Ex-federal prosecutor running for Congress in Pennsylvania". ABC27. June 10, 2025. Archived from the original on June 11, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Ryan R. Crosswell, Littler Mendelson". www.law360.com. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Myszkowski, Brian (August 27, 2025). "McClure accuses Democratic primary opponent of work with 'union-busting' law firms". LehighValleyNews.com. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- 1 2 "Ex-DOJ attorney who opposed Trump runs for Congress in PA". Spotlight PA. October 7, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Former New Mexico House of Representatives Candidate Convicted for Shooting Spree". U.S. Justice Department. March 24, 2025.
- ↑ "The DOJ Lawyer Who Quit the Job He Loved to Sound the Alarm on Trump". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Greene, Jenna (November 20, 2025). "Tesla hits the brakes as lawyers seek to share Autopilot information with each other". Reuters.
- ↑ Horvath, Timea (January 20, 2026). "Two women sue Motel 6 for allegedly enabling sex trafficking in Redding, other locations". KRCR. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Solis, Gustavo (September 9, 2025). "San Diego class-action suit says ICE courthouse arrests are illegal". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Rashbaum, William K.; Rubinstein, Dana; Rothfeld, Michael; Bromwich, Jonah E.; Thrush, Glenn; Weiser, Benjamin; Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (February 10, 2025). "Justice Dept. Tells Prosecutors to Drop Federal Corruption Case Against Eric Adams". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Fanelli, Sadie Gurman, Corinne Ramey and James (February 13, 2025). "Top U.S. Prosecutors Resign After Order to Drop Eric Adams Case". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Kara Scannell, Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz, Jeremy Herb (February 14, 2025). "'It was never going to be me': How Trump's DOJ sparked a crisis and mass resignations over the Eric Adams case | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on February 15, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Ryan Crosswell quit Trump's DOJ. Now his resignation letter is part of his stump speech for Congress". AP News. December 12, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Trump-era resignation letters take center stage: 'We will not falter'". The Washington Post. March 6, 2025. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Read the resignation letter by federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell". The Washington Post. March 5, 2025. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Democrats question former DOJ officials about Trump administration dealings". POLITICO. April 7, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Barrett, Devlin (April 7, 2025). "Justice Dept. Raises Executive Privilege to Try to Muzzle Fired Pardon Attorney". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ "DOJ attorney who quit over Eric Adams case dismissal joins Pa. 7th Congressional District race • Pennsylvania Capital-Star". Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Ulrich, Steve (June 9, 2025). "Ryan Crosswell Announces Candidacy for PA-07 Congressional Seat". www.politicspa.com/. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
- ↑ Reinhard, Katherine (January 10, 2026). "7th Congressional District race grows to seven Democratic candidates". Armchair Lehigh Valley. Retrieved February 8, 2026.