Peter J. Ferrara

Opinion contributor

Most decisions made by the Department of Justice are made to protect the long-term integrity of the institution. Policy changes are not made swiftly and can often take decades to implement. As a lawyer and former associate deputy attorney general in the George H.W. Bush administration, I have never come across a decision as corrupt, unethical and legally bankrupt as the one the Justice Department made public last month, reversing a 2011 ruling that allowed states to legalize and regulate online gambling within their borders. The reversal seems to be nothing short of a handout to casino owner and top Republican donor Sheldon Adelson.

The Justice ruling comes in stark contrast to one issued in 2011, which prompted the legalization process by arguing that the Wire Act, a law created in the 1960s to target the mafia's illegal telephone sports betting operations, does not prohibit online gambling. The 2011 decision is one that few serious lawyers and constitutional scholars consider controversial.

Even the law's brainchild, then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy, said himself that the bill was designed “first to assist the states and territories in the enforcement of their laws,” not to impede states' rights by creating a sweeping federal ban.

Read more commentary:

William Barr's view of Russia recusal could undermine all government ethics programs

Witness intimidation? Organized crime? Investigate Trump, Cohen claims and threats

Are Mar-a-Lago cronies running VA? Secretary Robert Wilkie owes answers to veterans, voters

The 2011 DOJ ruling was consistent with the intent of the Wire Act and in line with the principles of federalism, which protects states’ rights. The Trump Justice Department's reversal is not. In fact, the new opinion seems to have even been directly based on the lobbying work of Adelson's team.

In April 2017, Adelson's lobbyist prepared an anti-online gambling, anti-federalism memo that Adelson's team forwarded to the Justice Department. One month later, the Criminal Division asked the Office of Legal Counsel to reconsider its interpretation of the Wire Act. Despite news reports suggesting that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself of the matter, DOJ ultimately reversed course and sided with Adelson on this issue in November, five days before Sessions left the Justice Department.

The kicker is that the department’s final analysis looked eerily similar to the memo it received from Adelson’s lobbyists, using some of the same case law examples and adopting many of the same interpretations on word meanings, according to The Wall Street Journal. The department's ethics officers should get involved.

I can't stress how appalling this decision is

As an alumnus of the Justice Department, I cannot stress how unprecedentedly appalling this decision is. The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel is supposed to be an independent entity that creates binding opinions with the highest degree of rectitude. In most circumstances, it abides by the judgments made by past OLC attorneys, even when in disagreement with their rulings, to respect the integrity of the office.

Yet in this case, the DOJ reversed its opinion on internet gaming almost immediately after receiving pressure from a casino owner who has a lot of power and influence in Republican circles, less than one decade after releasing its initial ruling. Never before have I seen law enforcement officials bend so easily seemingly to please one influencer.

President Donald Trump has received tens of millions in political donations from the Adelson family. If he wants to fend off the media’s allegations of crony capitalism and make good on his commitment to draining the swamp, he will stand up immediately for federalism and criticize this OLC decision that reeks of influence-peddling. Doing anything less will jeopardize the well-being of federalism and the sanctity of the American legal system as we know it.

Peter J. Ferrara served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Ronald Reagan and as associate deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush. He is a senior policy adviser to the National Tax Limitation Committee and to the FAIR Energy Foundation. He also teaches economics at King's College in New York.