Thursday, February 26, 2026-President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department’s new “war on fraud” initiative is senior prosecutor Colin McDonald, a career federal attorney tapped to head the newly created National Fraud Enforcement Division aimed at expanding fraud prosecutions nationwide.
McDonald, currently serving in the DOJ as an associate deputy attorney general, emphasized during his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that he will “follow the facts and apply the law” in every case — a traditional prosecutorial stance — but faced intense questioning over how independent the unit will be given its political backdrop.
The division itself was announced immediately after Trump’s State of the Union address, where he declared a broad “war on fraud” and framed the effort as a crackdown on alleged waste, abuse, and scams in federal programs.
McDonald’s role, if confirmed, would be the first of its kind: an assistant attorney general specifically designated to coordinate fraud investigations across DOJ’s civil and criminal arms. Lawmakers probed his plans, with some raising concerns about whether the office might be used to pursue politically charged investigations.
McDonald’s background is rooted in federal prosecution, including work on enforcement issues and DOJ task forces, though he has largely avoided detailing specific cases he’d target as the fraud division’s head. Supporters argue the new office could bolster efforts to protect taxpayer funds, while critics worry about DOJ independence and political influence in enforcement decisions.
As the Senate weighs his confirmation, the trajectory of this new fraud unit will be a key indicator of how aggressively the Justice Department pursues allegations of financial wrongdoing under this administration.
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