More than a dozen personnel involved in the criminal investigations of Donald Trump have been sacked, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Acting Attorney General James McHenry’s letter to the officials stated that they cannot be “trusted” to “faithfully” carry out Trump’s agenda.
“You played an important role in convicting President Trump. McHenry noted that the trust that higher officials have in their subordinates is crucial to the successful functioning of government. “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.”
According to multiple sources who have seen an internal memo on the subject, the Trump administration is taking concrete steps to investigate prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against January 6 defendants, after Trump vowed to seek retribution as a key campaign promise.
Ed Martin, the interim US Attorney in Washington, DC, has initiated an investigation into prosecutors who filed obstruction charges under US Code 1512(c) against several rioters, which were later dismissed due to a Supreme Court judgment last summer.
Martin referred to the effort as a “special project,” writing in a memo issued Monday that the attorneys should hand over “all information you have related to the use of 1512 charges, including all files, documents, notes, emails, and other information” to two of the office’s long-term prosecutors, who must submit a report on the probe by Friday.
“Obviously the use was a great failure of our office – s. ct. decision – and we need to get to the bottom of it,” the document reads, referring to a June Supreme Court ruling that curtailed federal prosecutors’ ability to pursue obstruction charges against the January 6 rioters.
The demand for documents also includes prosecutors who have since departed the US Attorney’s office.
The decision comes as the Justice Department has already seen a dramatic shakeup, with officers linked to high-profile investigations being reassigned, including the now-dismissed prosecution against Trump himself for attempting to alter the 2020 presidential election.
Prosecutors who worked on the January 6 cases told CNN that the memo raises concerns that Trump’s DOJ is starting to “investigate the investigators,” as he has previously promised. According to one person who has worked on Capitol riot cases, prosecutors are unsure if this probe will result in criminal or civil charges, and some are beginning to hire their own lawyers to defend themselves.
A senior administration official aware with the Martin email characterized it as a “fact-finding” trip and a “huge waste of resources.”
“The prior office screwed up by filing hundreds of cases that ended up getting thrown out by the Supreme Court, it is worth getting to the bottom of poor decision making,” according to the individual!
CNN has contacted the Justice Department for comment.
Martin, a hardline, socially conservative activist and journalist who previously worked as an organizer for the “Stop the Steal” organization, was chosen for the position last week. Since taking the office, he has commended Trump for awarding wholesale pardons to January 6 defendants.
He also successfully lobbied a judge to overturn travel restrictions imposed on members of the Oath Keepers after they were released from prison, saying: “If a judge decided that Jim Biden, General Mark Milley, or another individual were forbidden from visiting America’s capital — even after receiving a last-minute, preemptive pardon from the former President — I believe most Americans would object. The individuals included in our motion got their sentences commuted – period, end of sentence.
