New administration fires prosecutors who investigated Donald Trump

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has dismissed several prosecutors from the teams conducting two federal investigations into former President Donald Trump. On January 27, James McHenry, spokesperson for the acting Attorney General, confirmed the DOJ's decision to remove personnel from the special counsel teams handling the cases.

According to McHenry, the DOJ leadership lost confidence in the prosecutors' ability to support the new administration's agenda faithfully. "This decision aligns with the goal of ending the misuse of government resources as political weapons," McHenry stated. The exact number of prosecutors dismissed from the special counsel teams remains undisclosed.

In late 2022, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Jack Smith to oversee two federal investigations involving Trump. One case concerned allegations of Trump attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Washington, while the other focused on his handling of classified documents in Florida.

Jack Smith subsequently assembled a team of at least 40 federal prosecutors to investigate the former president. However, following Trump’s reelection, both federal cases were dropped, citing constitutional protections that prohibit prosecuting a sitting president at the federal level.

Smith resigned from the DOJ on January 10, ten days before Trump’s inauguration, a move widely anticipated. Trump had previously pledged to dismiss the special counsel upon taking office and hinted at possible retribution against Smith and other officials involved in the investigations.

Members of Smith’s special counsel team, many of whom were federal prosecutors, returned to their respective roles in other DOJ divisions after the cases concluded. It remains unclear whether the Trump administration will face any legal repercussions arising from these dismissals. The development underscores lingering tensions over the DOJ’s handling of high-profile investigations and the political implications of prosecutorial decisions.