John Adams quote projected on DOJ building in protest of $1.8B fund

Justice DepartmentJohn Adams quote projected on DOJ building in protest of $1.8B fund“A government of laws, not of men,” reads the phrase that lit up the side of the Justice Department on Tuesday.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00A quote from John Adams was projected on the side of "Main Justice" on Tuesday night.Ryan Reilly / NBC NewsShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 19, 2026, 10:28 PM EDTBy Ryan J. ReillyWASHINGTON — Opponents of a $1.776 billion taxpayer-backed “anti-weaponization” fund projected a quote from one of the Founding Fathers onto the Justice Department building in protest. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“A government of laws, not of men,” read the quote from John Adams, who served as the second president of the United States.The Adams quote shown over one of the large banners of President Donald Trump that were set up in February at the Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice.” Stacey Young, a former Justice Department employee who founded the group Justice Connection that projected the phrase onto the building told NBC News that the “1.8 billion dollar slush fund” was “appalling.”“We are standing up for Department’s integrity and the rule of law,” Young said, standing outside the building. The Justice Department was currently operating “as an arm of the White House” and doing the presidents bidding by protecting Trump’s allies and going after his enemies, she said. “That is an extraordinary abuse of power, and it’s a sign that the rule of law is crumbling before our eyes,” Young said. Justice Connection said that the Trump administration “shifted the country away from a system of laws and toward an era of lawlessness,” citing the firing of prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases, and “cash payments” to Capitol riot defendants they expect the Trump administration to pay out. A banner depicting President Donald Trump hangs on the Department of J...