Trump DOJ Cracks Down on Prosecutors Who Worked for Jack Smith: ‘You Are Removed from Federal Service Effective Immediately’

Acting Attorney General James McHenry informed more than a dozen Justice Department officials involved with the criminal investigations into President Donald Trump that they would be dismissed from duty.

The officials who worked for special counsel Jack Smith, who resigned days before Trump took office, were told in a letter from McHenry that they cannot be “trusted” to “faithfully” advance the agenda of the new administration, according to a Monday report from CNN.

“This letter provides official notice that you are being removed from your position at the Department of Justice, and from the federal service, effective immediately,” the letter began.

“You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. The proper functioning of government critically depends on the trust superior officials place in their subordinates,” McHenry wrote.

“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,” he added.

Smith was appointed in 2022 by now-former Biden administration Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead investigations into Trump related to his role in allegedly subverting the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of government documents.

The classified documents case was dismissed in July, while the election fraud case was dismissed in November.

Many conservatives accused the Biden administration of engaging in lawfare against a political opponent, especially since Smith was appointed three days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign.

One official in the Justice Department repeated to Politico that the staffers who worked under Smith simply could not be trusted to implement the Trump agenda.

“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,” the official said.

This seems like a rather common-sense move.

Trump is now the president. He should not be expected to retain employees who only a few months ago were working overtime to pin him with criminal penalties.

But the Democrats and their surrogates in the media are sure to raise a fuss.

Norm Eisen, who served on the White House ethics counsel under President Barack Obama, indeed contended to Politico that the terminations were “spurious.”

“The grounds are a hodgepodge of disinformation and distortion of facts and law alike,” he said.

“The president and his appointee have the power to hire and fire federal employees, but it must be done within the bounds of the rule of law,” Eisen continued.

“The legal hurdles are particularly steep for career federal employees, many of whom appeared to be included here. This will almost certainly trigger litigation and likely will be met with extreme judicial skepticism.”

In other words, Trump may once more see these staffers in court, just under very different circumstances.

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