The U. S. Department of Justice said it “rescinds and will remove” records that its former deputy assistant U. S. attorney general, Michael Gates, was terminated and will instead accept his voluntary resignation. The Justice Department, in a letter to Gates dated Friday, Nov. 21, said it will update Gates’ personnel file to note that he voluntarily resigned from his position in its Civil Rights Division. Gates, the former Huntington Beach city attorney, announced on social media on Sunday, Nov. 9, that he had resigned his position in the Trump administration and was returning home to work for the city once more. He said he was “very conflicted” about leaving because the job was “the honor of a lifetime,” but the months felt like years as he missed his family and their events. But the Justice Department had said Gates was terminated from his position “for cause,” personnel records obtained through a records request showed. A Justice Department source did confirm the validity of the letter Gates received on Friday accepting his resignation. There was no further information about the change of decision. “Please accept this letter as formal notification that the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has accepted your voluntary resignation from the position of Deputy Assistant Attorney General, effective November, 9, 2025. Accordingly, the Division rescinds and will remove from your personnel record any previous reference to your termination.” Gates had maintained that he was fired, but rather was planning to resign from the Justice Department. “They were angry I resigned, and I know this because it was well known throughout the office for months that anybody resigning would make them look bad,” Gates said in an interview last week. “When other people resigned, they were so mad. I’ve seen it with my own eyes because they thought it would make them look bad.” Gates could not immediately be reached for comment Friday evening. But in a Facebook post, Gates called the letter “total vindication.” “DOJ just sent a letter completely reversing now recognizing my resignation!” he posted. Earlier Friday, the Huntington Beach City Council met in closed session for 90 minutes, discussing the rehiring of Gates to work in the city attorney’s office. At its regular meeting on Tuesday, the council called for a special meeting to address “anticipated litigation” in two emails from Gates’ attorney, Benjamin G. Chew, regarding Gates’ employment with the city. In the resignation letter Gates had posted to social media earlier this month, it indicated his last day with the Justice Department would be Nov. 22. The Justice Department’s letter on Friday said his resignation is effective Nov. 9. Gates was elected as Huntington Beach’s city attorney in 2014 and won reelection twice more. He had said he would run for his old post again next year. But in the meantime, Gates said he has accepted the city’s offer to be “chief assistant city attorney” starting Nov. 24. He had been one of the more outspoken elected officials in Huntington Beach and the county, leading his office to fight the state on multiple local control issues, including challenging the state’s sanctuary law, fighting for the city’s voter ID law, and preventing California from mandating the coastal city to build more housing. He announced in February that he was leaving his post as Huntington Beach’s city attorney to head to the Justice Department in Washington, D. C. In his resignation letter, Gates said: “My decision to resign was not made easily but, in light of many circumstances, and after my experiences working at the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D. C., this year, I believe this is the best decision for me and my family.” Staff writer Claire Wang contributed to this report.
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/11/21/justice-department-says-it-reverses-michael-gates-firing-will-accept-his-resignation/