Category: Trump Administration / Department of Justice — Senior Political Appointee (Dual-Hatted) Role: Associate Deputy Attorney General (January 2025–present); simultaneously designated by the White House as Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office (May 12, 2025–); named defendant/interested party in Perlmutter v. Trump (D.D.C. 2025). Priority: P2 — Executive-branch DOJ political appointee installed by the White House into a legislative-branch office (the U.S. Copyright Office within the Library of Congress) whose leadership requires congressional and legislative-branch selection; the attempted installation was rejected in real time by Library of Congress staff and U.S. Capitol Police and is the subject of ongoing federal litigation.

Basis for Inclusion

Subject Classification: Public Official — sitting Associate Deputy Attorney General; simultaneously purported Acting Register of Copyrights per White House designation.

Anchor(s) Met: Anchor E — used documented official federal capacity (ADAG) to personally attempt, on May 12, 2025, to take physical possession of the U.S. Copyright Office pursuant to a White House letter installing him as Acting Register of Copyrights; the attempt was rebuffed by Library of Congress staff and the U.S. Capitol Police.

What Is NOT the Basis for Inclusion: Perkins’s prior career at Sidley Austin, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House Counsel’s Office, and the U.S. Senate is background context. Speeches on financial-crime enforcement in his ADAG capacity are documented as context, not scored.

How Speech Is Treated: ABA and other speeches are context and pattern evidence. Scored conduct is limited to official acts (the May 2025 Library of Congress attempt and its litigation aftermath).

Overview

Paul R. Perkins is a veteran Justice Department attorney who returned to DOJ in January 2025 as an Associate Deputy Attorney General with fraud- and financial-crimes portfolio responsibilities. On the morning of Monday, May 12, 2025, Perkins and Brian Nieves arrived at the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington carrying a letter from the White House announcing (a) that Deputy AG Todd Blanche was being installed as Acting Librarian of Congress, (b) that Nieves would serve as Acting Deputy Librarian, and (c) that Perkins himself would simultaneously serve as Acting Register of Copyrights while continuing as ADAG. Library staff — after calling the Library’s general counsel Meg Williams and the U.S. Capitol Police — refused the two officials access to the Copyright Office and asked them to leave. The event is the subject of ongoing federal litigation by former Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, who was fired by the Trump administration days before the attempted takeover.

Background

Perkins previously worked at Sidley Austin LLP, clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, served in the White House Counsel’s Office, and worked for the U.S. Senate. He also previously served in the DOJ Civil Division’s Fraud Section as a Deputy Director. He returned to DOJ in January 2025 as an Associate Deputy Attorney General with financial-crimes portfolio responsibilities and has since delivered public remarks at the American Bar Association’s ABA/ABA Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference in his ADAG capacity.

Documented Actions

1. Attempted Executive-Branch Takeover of the Library of Congress / Copyright Office (May 12, 2025)

Evidence: Around 9:00 a.m. on Monday, May 12, 2025, Perkins and Nieves arrived at the U.S. Copyright Office bearing a letter announcing that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was being appointed Acting Librarian of Congress.

Perkins was named in the letter as Acting Register of Copyrights (in addition to his ADAG role); Nieves was named Acting Deputy Librarian. Library of Congress staff members refused entry. Staff called the Library’s general counsel Meg Williams, who informed the two officials they were not allowed access; staff also called the U.S. Capitol Police.

SourceCNN Politics, “Senior Justice Department officials tapped by Trump to run Library of Congress are denied access,” May 12, 2025; NBC4 Washington, “Attorney who defended Trump named acting librarian of Congress,” May 2025; The Daily Beast, “Library of Congress Staff Turn Away New MAGA Bosses,” May 2025.After a brief discussion in the hallway outside the Copyright Office, the two men left the building. The Library of Congress is a legislative-branch agency; the Librarian of Congress position requires presidential appointment and Senate confirmation.

Pattern: Executive-branch attempt to install DOJ political appointees into legislative-branch offices.

2. Named Party / Interested Party in Perlmutter v. Trump (D.D.C., May 2025–present)

Evidence: Days before the May 12, 2025 events, former Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter was fired from her position by the Trump administration. Perlmutter filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking reinstatement and challenging the White House’s authority to install Perkins as Acting Register.

Perkins’s designation as Acting Register is a direct subject of the litigation. As of July 2026, the case remains active, with reported adverse rulings for Perlmutter at certain stages (“Strike Two for Perlmutter in Bid to Return to Copyright Office,” IPWatchdog, July 31, 2025).

SourcePublishers Weekly, “Fired Copyright Chief Sues in Federal Court to Get Job Back,” 2025; IPWatchdog, “Strike Two for Perlmutter in Bid to Return to Copyright Office,” July 31, 2025.Court record: Perlmutter v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-XXXX (D.D.C., filed May 22, 2025). Complaint published at levin-center.org.

Pattern: Litigation over the legality of Perkins’s dual-hatted appointment.

3. Simultaneous Retention of DOJ Portfolio While Holding a Legislative-Branch Position (May 2025–present)

SourceDOJ archived speech, “Associate Deputy Attorney General Paul R. Perkins Delivers Remarks at the ABA/ABA Financial Crimes”; Patently-O, “Transformative Changes: Copyright Leadership Dismissed as AI Report Questions Industry Practices,” May 2025; ZoomInfo profile confirming ADAG designation.Evidence: Perkins has continued to serve as Associate Deputy Attorney General while purportedly also serving as Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of the Copyright Office. Public DOJ speeches — including his ABA/ABA Financial Crimes remarks — continued to identify him as ADAG. Congressional and legal commentators noted the structural anomaly of an executive-branch DOJ political appointee simultaneously purporting to lead a legislative-branch agency.

Pattern: Structural blurring of separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

Pattern Analysis

Cross-References

Perkins was the DOJ operational agent for a White House–directed attempt to bring the Library of Congress under executive-branch control. The attempt is documented in real time by CNN, NBC, and The Daily Beast, and is the subject of ongoing federal litigation. Perkins’s dual-hatted position materially advances that structural project.

Related profiles:

• todd-blanche-profile (named Acting Librarian of Congress in the same May 12, 2025 letter)
• kendra-wharton-profile (fellow ADAG during 2025)
• pam-bondi-profile (Attorney General)

Severity Assessment

Immediate harm: Moderate — no forced entry; the takeover attempt was administratively rebuffed. Democratic erosion: High — executive-branch attempt to install political appointees into legislative-branch offices without statutory authority, currently under federal-court challenge. Authoritarian marker: Cross-branch power consolidation; workaround of Senate confirmation requirements for the Librarian of Congress.

Accountability Status

Current status: Active — serving as Associate Deputy Attorney General; purportedly serving as Acting Register of Copyrights per White House designation, subject to ongoing federal litigation.

Legal exposure:

• Appointments Clause (U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2) — legality of executive-branch installation into a legislative-branch position.
• Federal Vacancies Reform Act (5 U.S.C. § 3345 et seq.) — applicability to a legislative-branch agency (contested).
• 2 U.S.C. § 136 (Librarian of Congress appointment) — statutory framework being circumvented.
• Anti-Deficiency Act — potentially applicable to unauthorized exercise of legislative-branch authority.

Congressional oversight:

• House Administration and Senate Rules — direct jurisdiction over the Library of Congress.
• House and Senate Judiciary — DOJ oversight.
• House Oversight and Accountability — executive-branch overreach.

Public accountability:

• Ongoing Perlmutter v. Trump litigation.
• Investigative journalism actively covering.
• Legal commentators (Patently-O, IPWatchdog) tracking as a separation-of-powers case study.

Truth and Reconciliation Considerations

Investigation priorities

1. Obtain the full May 2025 White House directive and Justice Department implementation documents authorizing Perkins’s dual appointment.
2. Determine who at DOJ, the White House Counsel’s Office, or elsewhere selected Perkins as the operational agent for the Copyright Office takeover attempt.
3. Reconstruct Perkins’s official acts (if any) as purported Acting Register — regulations issued, personnel actions taken, filings signed — while the Perlmutter litigation is pending.
4. Document any parallel executive-branch attempts to bring other legislative-branch entities (GAO, CBO, CRS, Architect of the Capitol) under DOJ or White House control.

Testimony value

Under use immunity (18 U.S.C. § 6002), Perkins could uniquely reveal: (a) internal Justice Department and White House Counsel deliberations preceding the May 12, 2025 attempt; (b) legal-opinion authors and internal dissent within DOJ Office of Legal Counsel; (c) the operational chain of command directing the takeover; (d) any parallel plans targeting other independent or legislative-branch offices.

Institutional reform

• Statutory clarification that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act does not apply to legislative-branch positions.
• Prohibition on dual-hatting DOJ political appointees into legislative-branch offices.
• Enhanced legal-branch protective authority for the U.S. Capitol Police in cross-branch access disputes.
• Congressional resolution reaffirming the Librarian of Congress and Register of Copyrights appointment procedures.

Cross-References

Skills: malice-evaluator, patriot-editorial-framework, democratic-health-monitoring

Related profiles: todd-blanche-profile, kendra-wharton-profile, pam-bondi-profile

Topics: Library of Congress, Copyright Office, Perlmutter litigation, separation of powers, dual-hatted appointment, executive overreach

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Sources

1. CNN Politics, “Senior Justice Department officials tapped by Trump to run Library of Congress are denied access,” May 12, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/library-of-congress-trump-justice-blanche
2. NBC4 Washington, “Attorney who defended Trump in hush money trial named acting librarian of Congress,” May 2025. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/attorney-who-defended-trump-in-hush-money-trial-named-acting-librarian-of-congress/3911899/
3. The Daily Beast, “Library of Congress Staff Mount Standoff Against New Bosses,” May 2025. https://www.thedailybeast.com/library-of-congress-staff-mount-standoff-against-new-bosses/
4. Publishers Weekly, “Fired Copyright Chief Sues in Federal Court to Get Job Back,” 2025. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/97839-fired-copyright-chief-sues-in-federal-court-to-get-job-back.html
5. IPWatchdog, “Strike Two for Perlmutter in Bid to Return to Copyright Office,” July 31, 2025. https://ipwatchdog.com/2025/07/31/strike-two-perlmutter-bid-return-copyright-office/
6. Perlmutter v. Trump Complaint (D.D.C. filed May 22, 2025). https://levin-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-05-22-Perlmutter-Complaint.pdf
7. Federal News Network, “Deputy attorney general who defended Trump in hush money trial is named acting librarian of Congress,” May 2025. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2025/05/deputy-attorney-general-who-defended-trump-in-hush-money-trial-named-acting-librarian-of-congress/
8. U.S. Department of Justice archived speech: “Associate Deputy Attorney General Paul R. Perkins Delivers Remarks at the ABA/ABA Financial Crimes.” https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/speech/associate-deputy-attorney-general-paul-r-perkins-delivers-remarks-abaaba-financial-crimes
9. MSNBC/Maddow Blog, “Trump’s decision to fire the librarian of Congress sparks an intensifying controversy,” May 2025. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/librarian-congress-fired-trump-newsletter-rcna206534

Last Updated: 2026-07-15 Profile Status: Draft Next Review: Quarterly