WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced Monday that it has fired more than a dozen employees who worked on impeachment cases against President Donald Trump, acting swiftly to punish lawyers who were involved in the investigative processes.
The swift action against career prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's team is the latest sign of changes within the Justice Department and reflects the administration's determination to remove from government employees it deems disloyal to the president.
The measures were taken in violation of the norms and followed the transfer of several senior career officials to different divisions. The tradition so far allowed career prosecutors to continue working in the department throughout the administrations of different presidents and not be punished for their involvement in sensitive investigative processes. The dismissal of the officials was announced to take effect immediately.
“Today, Acting Attorney General James McHenry terminated the employment of a number of Justice Department officials who played a significant role in the investigation of President Trump,” a Justice Department official said in a statement. “Due to their activities, the Acting Attorney General does not believe these officials will act to faithfully implement the President’s agenda. This action is consistent with the mission to end the political use of government.”
It was not immediately clear which prosecutors would be affected by the order, or how many of those who worked on the Trump probe would remain at the Justice Department. It was also unclear how many of the dismissed prosecutors could appeal the move, arguing that the department failed to uphold protections for civil servants in the federal government.
Special Counsel Smith himself resigned from the Justice Department earlier this month after submitting a voluminous report on two investigative files into Mr. Trump, for efforts to overturn the 2020 election and for keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. At least one key member of the prosecutorial team, Jay Bratt, also resigned from the Justice Department this month after serving as the lead prosecutor on the classified documents case.
The shootings were first reported by Fox News. /VOA (A2 Televizion)
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