By Jessica Russak-Hoffman JNS
The senior counsel appointment gives him a “green light” to develop new policies and initiatives, including a national antisemitism awareness tour, the longtime civil-rights attorney told JNS.
Leo Terrell announced on Wednesday that he will serve as senior counsel to the U.S. Office of the Associate Attorney General, telling JNS that the new role gives him broader authority to advance the Trump administration's efforts to combat antisemitism.
Terrell said the position, in which he will work alongside Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, gives him "a whole new lease on my job duties and responsibilities."
"The biggest difference is 100% support," he told JNS. "It's the support and the ability to create new policies and programs to combat antisemitism."
Among the initiatives he cited is a planned 15-city national antisemitism awareness and action tour, which the U.S. Department of Justice announced last month.
"I submitted it to them, and they said, 'Great, go with it,'" he told JNS. "They didn't say, 'Let's think about it.' They said, 'Do it.'"
Terrell said the tour, which is expected to begin in August, will focus on cities where he believes local officials have failed to respond adequately to antisemitic incidents. Rather than targeting elected officials, he said the events will engage community stakeholders and provide resources for victims.
"On a local level, in cities like Los Angeles, Boston, Detroit, New York and Philadelphia, the local prosecutors are doing nothing," he said. "They're not prosecuting hate crimes. The local teachers unions are implementing antisemitic curriculum. In these cities, there is a 'Jewish tax' that requires Jewish community stakeholders to pay for outrageous security fees."
"We're going to give victims methods and remedies to directly contact us immediately on antisemitic behavior," he told JNS.
Terrell praised U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as Blanche and Woodward, for backing his efforts. "Those three individuals have reinvigorated me," he said.
"President Trump is a unicorn," he said. "He's unique. He takes action. He sets the standard where talk is not good enough. He does not care about the political fallout."
"No president has done more to fight antisemitism ever than this president," Terrell said. "I'm fortunate to have Todd Blanche and Stanley Woodward, who have adopted the president's policy and told me, 'Green light.'"
Terrell said one of his long-term goals is to establish protections and reporting mechanisms for victims of antisemitism that will maintain progress "regardless of who is in the White House, a Republican or a Democrat."
