Given what Trump has said about Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Muslims, for example, it seems to me flatly improper for any lawyer to agree to head the department’s Civil Rights Division, Criminal Division, or National Security Division — all of which are institutionally duty-bound to protect people’s constitutional rights. Given what he has said about the federal judge who sits on his own civil case, I would question the ethics of anyone who agreed to head the Civil Division in a Trump administration. It follows that it is also ethically problematic for a lawyer to agree to supervise those divisions as Associate Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, or Attorney General — at least without Trump’s backing off of his own promises of unlawful behavior. Similarly, I would question the ethics of anyone who would agree to serve as Secretary of Defense for a man who openly promises war crimes.

The broad proposition here is that when a candidate has made clear that he does not respect constitutional or legal norms and would direct the government to violate them, it is not appropriate to sign up to serve in a position responsible for delivering on those promised violations.