The DOJ Is Investigating a Soros-Backed Fairfax County Prosecutor for Giving Illegal Aliens Sweetheart Deals. He Called It “Partisan Attacks.” A Victims’ Advocate Called It Something Else.
- Steve Descano Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney (D, VA) — Soros-backed, elected 2019 — Fox News
- Pattern or practice — DOJ Civil Rights Division investigation into whether Descano weighs immigration status in charging and plea decisions — DOJ / Fox News
- Harmeet Dhillon Assistant AG, Civil Rights Division: 'We will not allow local prosecutors to pick and choose winners based on immigration status' — Fox News
- 'Hey scumbag' Jennifer Harrison, Victim Rights Reform Council, responding to Descano calling the probe 'partisan attacks' — Fox News
The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has opened a “pattern or practice” investigation into Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano — a Soros-backed progressive prosecutor accused of giving favorable deals to illegal immigrants and weighing immigration consequences when making charging decisions and plea agreements.
Descano called it a “partisan attack.” His office issued a statement framing the probe as political retaliation by the Trump administration. Jennifer Harrison, head of the Victim Rights Reform Council, addressed him directly on X: “Hey scumbag — this has NOTHING to do with President Trump.”
A “pattern or practice” investigation under 42 U.S.C. § 14141 is one of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s most powerful tools. It allows federal prosecutors to investigate whether a local law enforcement agency or prosecutor’s office has engaged in a systemic constitutional or federal-law violation — not just a single incident.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced the investigation, stating that the Division would examine Descano’s “plea bargaining, charging decisions and sentencing policies.” The specific allegation: that Descano’s office weighs “immigration consequences” when determining charges and plea deals — effectively giving illegal immigrants lighter treatment than similarly-situated American citizens.
Title: Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney (Virginia’s top county prosecutor).
Party: Democrat.
Funding: Elected in 2019 with significant support from George Soros’s Justice and Public Safety PAC — part of the national wave of Soros-backed progressive DA elections.
County: Fairfax County, VA — population ~1.1 million, the largest county in Virginia and one of the wealthiest in the country, adjacent to Washington D.C.
Pattern: Previously accused of giving “sweetheart deals” to illegal immigrants involved in violent crime in Fairfax County.
His spokeswoman said: “This investigation is the latest example of the Trump administration’s own ‘pattern or practice’ of misusing the Justice Department to launch partisan attacks.” Descano’s office positioned the probe as political retaliation — a common defense among Soros-backed prosecutors facing federal scrutiny.
The political framing is also a fundraising opportunity. Progressive DA organizations have turned DOJ investigations into donor appeals — “the Trump DOJ is coming after us” is a proven small-dollar solicitation. Harrison’s “Hey scumbag” tweet captured the victims’ rights community’s view: that Descano is turning victims into a talking point.
“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow local prosecutors to pick and choose winners based on their immigration status.”
Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant AG, DOJ Civil Rights Division — Fox News, May 11, 2026
WFIN reported that Virginia Democrats are not uniformly rallying behind Descano. Some state Democratic officials have been notably quiet about the investigation — suggesting that even within the party, Descano’s prosecutorial record on immigration cases has generated internal discomfort.
The split matters because Fairfax County is critical to Virginia’s electoral math — Democrats cannot win statewide without running up large margins in Northern Virginia. A Soros-backed DA facing a federal civil rights probe is not the image the party wants attached to its largest suburban county heading into a contested 2025 governor’s race.