President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general abruptly fired more than a dozen officials who worked on the two criminal cases against him, his administration’s latest act of retribution against those deemed political enemies.
Acting Attorney General James McHenry told the officials, who worked on former special counsel Jack Smith’s team, the Department of Justice could no longer “trust” them to carry out Trump’s agenda. Fox News was the first to report the firings.
“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 spokesperson for the DOJ said Monday, per The Associated Press. “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.”
The names of those fired were not immediately available, but The New York Times reported that many appear to be career lawyers at the DOJ. The outlet added that the firings seemingly violate civil service protections for nonpolitical employees.
The firings are just the latest effort by Trump to quickly remake the federal government in his image and rid agencies of those deemed counter to that effort, even if such acts appear to violate federal law. The White House has removed at least 17 inspectors general at many government agencies and put all federal diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, staff on leave.
Trump’s team also removed the Justice Department’s senior career ethics officials from his post and reassigned him to a much less powerful role. The official, Bradley Weinsheimer, was appointed during Trump’s first term by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and was a respected member of the agency for three decades.
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The decision was just one of many similar efforts to remove agency veterans and replace them with loyalists.
Smith’s team included around 40 lawyers as he worked to investigate Trump on twin cases: his alleged hoarding of classified documents after the end of his first term in office and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Both cases led to federal indictments, but neither moved forward and were abandoned after Trump’s ascension in November.
Smith resigned shortly before Trump took office after submitting his final report on his investigations. Smith’s report said he believed the department had enough evidence to obtain and sustain a conviction on the Jan. 6 charges if they had gone to trial.