In an address to some members of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division in October, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward made an unusual pitch.
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Woodward → make → pitch
He wanted to entice the lawyers there to leave their roles and accept temporary stints to help out the National Fraud Enforcement Division, created earlier this year, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the speech.
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He → want → speech
In a 30-minute talk, he criticized the federal judge overseeing a lawsuit over President Trump's plans to renovate a public golf course in Washington, and told the group to come to him if they ever have a problem with a judge in the future.
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they → criticize → future
But before he could finish his address, he abruptly left, saying he was getting a call from the president.
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he → finish → president
The speech offered a glimpse of the unusual role Woodward has carved out as the No. 3 official at the Justice Department.
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Woodward → offer → Department
Since taking office last fall, he has become the de facto leader of the Antitrust Division, put his name on controversial court filings that have bewildered some DOJ employees and voiced a strong philosophical opposition to prosecuting corporations that has shocked many inside the department, multiple sources told CBS News.
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sources → take → News
Observers say he has developed a pattern of intervening in pending criminal cases involving corporations that are being pursued by the divisions under his remit, often steering them against the recommendations of career prosecutors and even other political appointees.
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that → say → prosecutors
One example, which has not been previously reported, involved an Illinois mining company that allegedly failed to evacuate its employees during a 2021 fire and failed to report another blaze to regulators as recently as this year, multiple sources told CBS News.
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sources → report → News
Woodward's defenders describe him as smart, deeply engaged and willing to take the hits that come with leadership.
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that → describe → leadership
A Justice Department spokesperson acknowledged Woodward urged antitrust attorneys to take assignments in the new fraud division, saying some of them have relevant experience.
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some → acknowledge → experience
The spokesperson did not dispute the account of Woodward's remarks — or the fact they were interrupted by a call from the White House.
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they → dispute → House
"It is well known that Woodward was an advisor to the President prior to coming over to DOJ," the spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → know → DOJ
This account of Woodward's tenure is based on interviews with nearly two dozen people, all of whom asked to remain anonymous to candidly discuss internal deliberations or cases.
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all → base → deliberations
The Justice Department did not make Woodward available for an interview.
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Woodward → make → interview
"The notion that the No. 3 person at the Department of Justice doesn't believe in the criminal prosecution of corporations is purely an ideological oddity unsupported by law," said one person familiar with Woodward's views.
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person → believe → views
"It is a fact that in multiple situations, he has asked prosecutors to justify prosecutions against companies."
"You can't put a company in jail"
Woodward has less experience with criminal matters than he does with civil litigation.
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he → ask → litigation
From 2010 to 2020, he was an associate and senior counsel at the law firm Akin Gump, where he primarily worked on civil matters.
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he → work → matters
The corporate criminal cases he did work on largely played out behind the scenes, two people familiar with his workload said, making it hard to get a full window into his experience.
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it → work → experience
Most of them involved investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, they said, a law that prohibits foreign bribery.
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that → involve → bribery
He cited one such case on a Senate questionnaire when asked to list the 10 most significant cases of his career, saying he spent six months overseeing a team of lawyers who reviewed documents.
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who → cite → documents
In 2020, he and Stan Brand, a former general counsel for the House of Representatives, started a law firm together.
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he → start → firm
Over the next five years, he represented a number of criminal defendants in Mr. Trump's orbit, including Walt Nauta and Peter Navarro.
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he → represent → Nauta
He was also counsel to Kelly Meggs, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and was convicted on multiple felonies, including seditious conspiracy.
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who → storm → conspiracy
His sentence was later commuted by Mr. Trump.
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sentence → commute → Trump
While all of the clients he represented during that time who went to trial lost their cases, at least some of the judges in federal court in D.C. seemed to respect him as an attorney.
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some → represent → attorney
"The district judges down there loved him," said one person with knowledge of the cases he handled.
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he → love → cases
They liked him because he knew what he was doing."
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he → like → what
He briefly worked in the White House as a senior counselor to the president before joining the Justice Department in April 2025 as an aide to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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He → work → Bondi
He was elevated to associate attorney general that October.
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He → elevate → general
The job of associate attorney general primarily entails overseeing the Justice Department's civil side: divisions that handle civil rights, antitrust probes, environmental and animal welfare issues, civil enforcement actions, civil tax cases and the offices that defend the government in civil lawsuits.
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that → entail → lawsuits
Several of those divisions also have sections that prosecute crimes like price-fixing, air and water pollution violations, and civil rights offenses.
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that → have → fixing
While the majority of his day-to-day job involves civil matters, he has made waves internally when it comes to how he views the smaller subset of corporate criminal cases that fall under his remit, multiple sources said.
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sources → involve → remit
In meetings with DOJ attorneys to discuss pending cases, he has been known to often quip that "you can't put a company in jail" or that there is "no jail big enough for a corporation," according to multiple sources, including some eyewitnesses.
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you → discuss → eyewitnesses
He also frequently advocates for prosecutors to seek softer resolutions, such as deferred prosecution agreements or civil settlements in lieu of criminal charges, the sources said.
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sources → advocate → charges
"He openly shows disdain toward every corporate case," recalled one person who said they have heard Woodward express those sentiments on more than one occasion.
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Woodward → show → occasion
"The impression you get is he doesn't believe in any of these laws and he does not believe in prosecuting companies at all," the person added.
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person → get → companies
His strong views on corporate prosecutions in general — essentially that they shouldn't happen — have shocked many attorneys at the Justice Department, particularly coming from an office that historically has not been heavily involved in scrutinizing criminal cases, since most of that oversight falls to the office of the deputy attorney general.
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most → happen → general
They also stand in stark contrast to how most of his predecessors viewed such cases, and even many of his fellow Trump appointees inside the department.
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most → stand → department
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, for instance, recently ordered prosecutors in the National Fraud Enforcement Division to "zealously prosecute corporate actors that defraud taxpayers and the United States of America."
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that → order → America
On several occasions, Woodward has asked prosecutors to write memos explaining basic legal principles related to prosecuting companies, in what they saw as a sign that he does not have very much experience with corporate criminal work, several sources with knowledge of the requests told CBS News.
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sources → ask → News
…and 102 more, not listed.
The Aporia
