DOJ fires several prosecutors working on criminal probe of US President Donald Trump

Washington, DC: According to CNN, which cited people familiar with the situation, the US Justice Department (DOJ) has dismissed a number of prosecutors who contributed to the criminal investigation of US President Donald Trump.

In a letter to the officials, Acting Attorney General James McHenry said that they could not be “trusted” to “faithfully” carry out Trump’s objectives. He said that these officers had a “significant role” in Trump’s prosecution and emphasized how important it is for high officials to maintain faith in their subordinates for the government to operate properly.

“You were instrumental in the prosecution of President Trump,” McHenry wrote. The confidence that higher-ranking officials have in their subordinates is crucial to the smooth operation of government.
He said, “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.”

According to CNN, which cited several sources who have seen an internal memo on the subject, the action comes as the Trump administration is taking steps to investigate the prosecutors who handled the criminal cases against the January 6 defendants after Trump declared that seeking retribution would be a major campaign promise.

Ed Martin, the acting US attorney in Washington, DC, has begun an investigation into prosecutors who filed obstruction charges against some rioters under US Code 1512(c), which were later dismissed as a result of a Supreme Court ruling last summer.

Martin described the effort as a “special project” in the memo released Monday, directing the lawyers to provide two of the office’s long-term prosecutors with “all information you have related to the use of 1512 charges, including all files, documents, notes, emails, and other information.” The prosecutors are required to submit a report on the investigation by Friday.

In reference to the Supreme Court’s June ruling that limited federal prosecutors’ ability to bring obstruction charges against the January 6 rioters, the document states, “Obviously the use was a great failure of our office—s. ct. decision—and we need to get to the bottom of it,” CNN said.

The move comes at a time when the US Justice Department has already seen a significant reorganization due to the reassignment of officers involved in high-profile investigations, such as the now-dismissed case against Trump for his attempts to rig the 2020 presidential election.

The document raises fears that the US Justice Department has begun to “investigate the investigators,” a move that Trump has long promised, according to prosecutors who worked on the January 6 cases, CNN said.

One source who worked on Capitol riot cases told CNN that some people have started hiring their own attorneys to defend themselves and that prosecutors were unsure whether the inquiry was aiming to file criminal or civil charges. Ed Martin has applauded Trump’s wholesale pardons of January 6 prisoners since taking office last week.