A longtime Department of Justice (DOJ) staffer says she was abruptly fired last week as retaliation for her husband's development of an app that alerts users to nearby ICE activity.
Carolyn Feinstein, a forensic accountant who spent nearly 10 years at the DOJ's Office of the U.S. Trustee was terminated on Friday, according to the Daily Beast. The decision came shortly after her husband, Joshua Aaron, appeared on CNN to discuss ICEBlock, an app he created that warns users when ICE agents are nearby.
The interview sparked outrage from right-wing figures, with influencers and Donald Trump officials demanding DOJ action. Feinstein had preemptively notified her employer of the growing backlash and confirmed she had no role in the app's operations, aside from being a listed minority shareholder in case of emergencies.
Feinstein said on Monday that she believes the firing was political retribution.
"This was retribution. I was fired because of the actions, or activism, of my husband," she told the outlet. "It is insulting to me because I dedicated myself and my career to serving the people of the United States, and now the DOJ is claiming I was attempting to harm some of them. And that's not true."
She received an email from the DOJ just 24 hours after pro-Trump pundit Laura Loomer publicly linked her to the app and called for her removal. ICEBlock, which has been downloaded nearly a million times, was described in DOJ correspondence using language Feinstein called "inaccurate and offensive," including the term "illegal alien." The DOJ confirmed it had investigated Feinstein's connection to the company and said it "will not tolerate threats against law enforcement."
The DOJ maintains that Feinstein's stake in the ICEBlock IP justified her termination. However, Feinstein continues to deny involvement in the app's operations and says her only intention was to be transparent about her husband's visibility.
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