Trump administration fires justice department lawyers who investigated him

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed over a dozen Justice Department lawyers who had been involved in two criminal cases against him.

A Justice Department official revealed to CBS News, the BBC's U.S. partner, that acting Attorney General James McHenry believed these lawyers "could not be trusted to faithfully execute the president's agenda because of their significant role in prosecuting the president" and were therefore terminated.

These lawyers were members of the team led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith, which investigated Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents and for allegedly attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The dismissals were effective immediately on Monday.

Mr. Smith was appointed as special counsel in 2022 to oversee the Justice Department's two cases against Trump. President Trump had vowed to fire him "in two seconds" upon taking office, but he resigned before Trump's inauguration. Both cases resulted in criminal charges against Trump, to which he pleaded not guilty. However, these cases were closed when he won the election in November. Prosecutors stated that Justice Department regulations do not permit prosecuting a sitting president.

It is not clear which members of Smith's team were dismissed. Many who had worked on Smith’s team were career corruption and national security prosecutors who had served in multiple administrations and were assigned to handle these cases. They reportedly received a letter on Monday stating that their roles in investigating and prosecuting the president made them unsuitable for working in the Justice Department.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance stated in an interview with NBC News, "It is unacceptable to fire prosecutors simply because they were assigned to work on a case. It violates the rule of law; it's anti-democratic."

These dismissals follow a mass reassignment of several senior Justice Department officials with expertise in a wide range of areas including national security and public corruption. One of them, the head of the Public Integrity Section, reportedly resigned on Monday.

Trump and his team have accused the Justice Department of bringing politically motivated cases against them, their associates, and Republicans. During his campaign for re-election, Trump vowed to immediately and thoroughly overhaul the Justice Department, claiming it had been "weaponized" against him. His nominee to head the Justice Department, Pam Bondi, echoed Trump’s sentiments, calling the federal prosecutions against him political persecution and stating that the Justice Department had been "weaponized for years."

Mr. Smith has publicly defended his work. In a cover letter to his final draft report on Trump’s actions following the 2020 election, he wrote, "The suggestion that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or any other political actors is simply ludicrous."

Separately, CBS News reported that on Monday, the top federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. announced an internal review of the prosecution decisions behind hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Martin, a Trump appointee, ordered prosecutors in his office to turn over documents, emails, and other information related to previous administration decisions to bring obstruction charges against over 200 Capitol attack defendants.