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DOJ Fires Lawyers Involved In Cases Against Trump

The newly inaugurated Donald Trump administration has dismissed more than a dozen United States Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers who were involved in two criminal cases against the president. The decision to fire these lawyers followed the conclusion by Acting Attorney General James McHenry that the lawyers could not be trusted to “faithfully implement the president’s agenda,” due to their significant roles in prosecuting Trump.

These lawyers were part of the team led by former special counsel Jack Smith, who investigated Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and his alleged attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The firing of these officials was effective immediately, according to a department official. Smith had been appointed in 2022 to oversee the investigations into Trump, which ultimately resulted in criminal charges against the president, who pleaded not guilty. However, the cases were closed following Trump’s victory in the November election, as regulations prevent the prosecution of a sitting president.

It was not immediately clear which members of Smith’s team were let go, but many of those involved in the investigations were career prosecutors who had worked across various administrations. The fired lawyers were reportedly sent a letter informing them that their involvement in prosecuting the president made them unsuitable for continued service in the department.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance condemned the firings, stating that “firing prosecutors because of cases they were assigned to work on is just unacceptable.” She added, “It’s anti-rule of law; it’s anti-democracy.”

The firings followed a major reshuffling of top DOJ officials with expertise in national security and public corruption. On the same day, the chief of the DOJ’s public integrity section reportedly resigned.

Trump and his allies have accused the DOJ of launching politically motivated investigations and prosecutions against him, his associates, and other Republicans. Trump, while campaigning for re-election, vowed an overhaul of the department, claiming it had been “weaponized” against him.

His nominee to head the DOJ, Pam Bondi, echoed his sentiments, asserting that federal prosecutions against him were politically driven and that the department had been “weaponized for years.”

Smith, on the other hand, has defended his work. In a letter accompanying the final draft of his report into Trump’s actions after the 2020 election, he dismissed Trump’s claims that his decisions were influenced by the Biden administration, calling the accusation “laughable.”

Additionally, Washington D.C.’s top federal prosecutor announced on Monday the initiation of an internal review into the charging decisions related to hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

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