The Justice Department has fired more than a dozen lawyers involved in criminal investigations into Donald Trump during his campaign for president, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, ABC and NBC News, stating the Trump administration “does not trust these officials to faithfully implement the president’s agenda.” Photo by Bizuayehu Tesfaye/EPA-EFE
Jan. 27 (UPI) — The Justice Department has fired more than a dozen lawyers involved in criminal investigations into Donald Trump during his campaign for president, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The lawyers and other DOJ officials were part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s teams that prosecuted Trump, officials confirmed Monday to CNN, ABC News and NBC News.
“Today, acting Attorney General James McHenry terminated the employment of a number of DOJ officials who played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump,” a Justice Department official wrote.
“In light of their actions, the acting Attorney General does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the president’s agenda. This action is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government.”
“You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. The proper functioning of government critically depends on the trust superior officials place in their subordinates,” McHenry wrote in a letter to those fired. “Given your significant role in prosecuting the president, I do not believe that the leadership of the department can trust you to assist to implement the president’s agenda faithfully.”
Those fired federal employees — who include prosecutors Anne McNamara, Molly Gaston, J.P. Cooney and Mary Dohrmann, according to NBC News — may appeal their dismissals to the federal Merit Systems Protection Board. Longtime career officials are provided extensive civil service protections, which could lead to a number of court challenges.
“My firm is willing to represent pro bono those fired in this unlawful and vindictive purge,” attorney Mark Zaid wrote Monday in a post on X. “These dedicated civil servants were performing their jobs and upholding the rule of law.”
Throughout his campaign last year, Trump called the investigations politically motivated “witch hunts” and accused Democrats of “weaponizing” the Justice Department to disrupt his presidential election bid.
After he was inaugurated last week, Trump signed an executive order to “end the weaponization of the federal government.”
Smith, who repeatedly denied the investigations were politically motivated, resigned from the Justice Department nine days before Trump’s inauguration. Smith had completed work on two dismissed cases against Trump, including the president’s alleged retention of classified documents from his first term at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss that led to the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
The federal cases were dismissed because of the Justice Department’s long-standing policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.