- Over a dozen Justice Department lawyers fired for their involvement in Trump’s criminal investigations.
- The firings followed an assessment that the lawyers could not be trusted to implement the president’s agenda.
- Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance condemned the firings as an attack on the rule of law and democracy.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed over a dozen Justice Department lawyers involved in two criminal cases against him.
The firings followed an assessment by Acting Attorney General James McHenry, who determined that these lawyers could not “be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda” due to their significant roles in prosecuting Trump. A department official told CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, that the decision was made after careful consideration.
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The lawyers were part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s team, which investigated Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
The dismissals, which took place on Monday, are effective immediately.
Jack Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee both cases. Although Trump had vowed to fire Smith if re-elected, Smith resigned before Trump could take office. The investigations resulted in criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty, but the cases were closed after his 2020 election defeat. Prosecutors noted that Justice Department regulations prevent the prosecution of a sitting president.
The identities of the fired prosecutors have not been disclosed. Many were career attorneys with expertise in corruption and national security across multiple administrations. They were reportedly informed via a letter on Monday that their involvement in prosecuting the president rendered them unfit for further roles within the department.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance condemned the firings, telling NBC News, “Firing prosecutors because of cases they were assigned to work on is just unacceptable. It’s anti-rule of law; it’s anti-democracy.”
These firings came on the heels of a larger reshuffling within the Justice Department, including the resignation of the chief of the public integrity section, a key official overseeing national security and corruption investigations.
Trump and his team have accused the Justice Department of pursuing politically motivated cases against him, his associates, and Republicans. While campaigning for re-election, Trump vowed to immediately overhaul the department, claiming it had been “weaponized” against him.
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Pam Bondi, his nominee to lead the Justice Department, has supported Trump’s stance, asserting that federal prosecutions against him amounted to political persecution, and that the department had been “weaponized” for years.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has publicly defended his work. In a letter accompanying the final draft of his report on Trump’s actions after the 2020 election, he stated, “The claim from [Trump] that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.”
Additionally, on Monday, Washington DC’s top federal prosecutor announced an internal review of the charging decisions behind hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Acting US Attorney Edward Martin, a Trump appointee, directed prosecutors in his office to submit documents, emails, and other materials related to the prior administration’s decision to charge over 200 Capitol attack defendants with obstruction.
