It’s often said that “elections have consequences.” More than a dozen Department of Justice lawyers can testify that truth, having been mass-fired by the Trump administration on Monday over their participation in pressing two federal criminal cases against Trump.
“Acting Attorney General James McHenry made this decision because he did not believe these officials could be trusted to faithfully implement the President’s agenda because of their significant role in prosecuting the President,” an anonymous DOJ official told Politico, declining to name the newly-departed. All of them worked under special counsel Jack Smith, who resigned earlier this month, knowing Trump had promised to terminate him.
The fired lawyers found out via electronic messages sent from McHenry on Monday afternoon. Instead of telling the lawyers they’d been terminated for cause, the notices pointed to Trump’s constitutional power over personnel under Article III. At the same time, however, McHenry did cite a “cause”:
“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.”
Under special counsel Smith, the lawyers fired on Monday brought charges against Trump for alleged unlawful retention of classified documents and alleged interference with the transfer of presidential power following the 2020 election. The documents case was nixed by a judge who said Smith’s appointment was illegal. Smith himself asked a court to withdraw the transfer-of-power case after Trump won in November.
The firings drew howls from Trump foes, including Obama ethics counsel Norm Eisen, who said the firings are illegal in light of legal protections for career federal workers. “These are spurious terminations. The grounds are a hodgepodge of disinformation and distortion of facts and law,” he told Politico. “This will almost certainly trigger litigation and likely will be met with extreme judicial skepticism.” The termination messages informed recipients, that they may have a right to file an appeal with the US Merit Systems Protection Board within 30 days. Some observers contend that the termination notices themselves will lend strength to any appeals:
Here’s the money line in the acting AG’s letter firing the prosecutors who worked on the Trump case. Leadership does not trust you in “implementing the president’s agenda.” DOJ supports and defends the Constitution, not the president’s agenda. pic.twitter.com/VP0kY0vpb1
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) January 27, 2025
The dumping of Trump’s persecutors was just the latest step in a broader, post-election purge at DOJ. Last week, multiple top officials at DOJ’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, which oversees the country’s immigration courts, were pointed to the door. Nearly two dozen more were reassigned.
Acting AG McHenry is keeping DOJ’s top chair warm for Trump nominee Pam Bondi, who merrily pummeled Democrats in her Jan. 15 confirmation hearing. Drawing a contrast with what the country witnessed during Biden’s term, Bondi vowed that “no one will be prosecuted [or] investigated because they are a political opponent.” Her next step is a vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee which has yet to be scheduled.
Meanwhile, DOJ employees are feeling like they’re on the wrong end of a shock-and-awe campaign. “It feels like a non-violent war. It’s just wild,” one career DOJ employee told Politico. “People are just in a state of shock and devastated. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen … Nothing that happened during the first Trump administration came anywhere close to this.”
Looking at the wreckage, one former DOJ official summed up the picture like this:
“It’s got to be among the most demoralizing moments in the history of the Department of Justice. It is a flat-out purge of individuals who this administration must view either of suspect loyalty or have worked on matters they just did not like. We are in the early phases of what to me is just looking like a wholesale, politically-inspired demolition of the Department of Justice in key places.”
The former official surely didn’t intend for it to sound so wonderful.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/28/2025 – 15:45
