Trump Fires More Than a Dozen DOJ Employees Because They ‘Played a Significant Role in Prosecuting’ Him
President Donald Trump fired more than a dozen employees at the Department of Justice on Monday because of their roles in his federal prosecutions.
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith prosecuted Trump in two separate cases. One of them stemmed from Trump’s retention of government documents after leaving office. Smith said those documents were classified and accused Trump of obstructing their retrieval. That case was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee. The other case centered on Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Upon the president’s election victory in November, Smith dropped the case, citing DOJ precedent stating that sitting presidents should not be prosecuted.
In a letter to the employees who worked on Smith’s team, Acting Attorney General James McHenry informed them of their terminations:
This letter provides official notice that you are being removed from your position at the Department of Justice, and from the federal service, effective immediately.
As President Trump declared on his first day back in office, “[t]he American people have witnessed the previous administration engage in a systematic campaign against its perceived political opponents, weaponizing the legal force of numerous Federal law enforcement agencies … against those perceived political opponents in the form of investigations. prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, and other related actions.” Nowhere was that effort more salient than in the unprecedented prosecutions the Department of Justice vigorously pursued against President Trump himself.
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. Given your significant role in prosecuting the President. I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.
As a result, pursuant to Article II of the Constitution and the laws of the United States, your employment with the Department of Justice is hereby terminated, and you are removed from federal service effective immediately.
The Associated Press described the firings as a “norm-shattering move.”
The terminations come just days after Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general at various agencies in what one of the dismissed IGs called “a widespread massacre.”
