Chad Mizelle
As Chief of Staff to the Attorney General (AG), Mizelle supervises the work of the AG’s office, leads priority initiatives, and provides advice on legal, policy, and operational issues within an office that is ultimately responsible for enforcing the Freedom of Access to Clinical Entrances (FACE) Act, the National Task Force on Violence Against Health Care Providers, and the Department’s position on the Comstock Act.
Top Red Flags
- Within days of his appointment to the Department of Justice, Mizelle authored a memo limiting the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) enforcement. The memo also ordered the immediate dismissal of three active FACE Act cases.
- Worked for anti-abortion organizations, the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Bioethics Defense Fund. During his time with these extreme organizations he worked on legal briefs and proceedings for Arizona’s 20-week abortion ban law.
- Advocated for the need to overturn Roe v. Wade and called for “creating and living a pro-life culture.”
Litigation
- During his time at the Bioethics Defense Fund, Mizelle helped draft briefs and prepare oral arguments for Isaacson v. Horn, in which his organization defended Arizona’s 20-week abortion ban, a law the 9th Circuit eventually found unconstitutional.
Statements
- In a Department of Justice memo, he accused the Biden Administration of widespread weaponization of the federal government and law enforcement, calling the enforcement of the FACE Act the “prototypical example of this weaponization” and called for the FACE Act to be permitted only in “extraordinary circumstances” moving forward. Since 1994, the FACE Act has been critical in protecting both patients and abortion providers from violence and harassment. It was passed in direct response to several extreme acts of violence against abortion providers.
- During a presentation to the Tampa Bay Catholic Lawyers Guild entitled “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — Our Obligation to the Least Among Us”, Mizelle encouraged attendees to create and live a “prolife culture” while discussing the legal implications of the Dobbs decision.
Extremist Connections
- Mizelle worked for two prominent anti-abortion organizations, the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Bioethics Defense Fund.
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