The Trump Justice Department said on Monday that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on the criminal investigations into President Donald Trump.
The abrupt action targeting career prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team is the latest sign of upheaval inside the Justice Department and reflects the administration’s determination to purge the government of workers it perceives as disloyal to the president.
Special counsel Jack Smith resigned from the department before President Trump’s inauguration (J Scott Applewhite/AP)
The move, which follows the reassignment of multiple senior career officials across divisions, was made even though rank-and-file prosecutors by tradition remain in their positions across presidential administrations and are not punished because of their involvement in sensitive investigations.
A Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the terminations were made by acting Attorney General James McHenry.
It was not immediately clear which prosecutors were affected by the order.
Mr Smith himself resigned from the department earlier this month.