It’s the latest move by the Trump administration targeting attorneys connected to the massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
WASHINGTON — On Friday, the Justice Department dismissed at least three prosecutors involved in U.S. Capitol riot cases, marking the Trump administration’s recent actions against attorneys linked to the extensive prosecution of the January 6, 2021, attack, as per information from two sources familiar with the situation.
The individuals who were let go include two attorneys who served as supervisors managing the Jan. 6 prosecutions in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, along with a line attorney who handled cases related to the Capitol assault, according to the sources. These individuals requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of personnel matters.
One of the prosecutors received a letter signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The letter did not elaborate on the reason for their termination, effective immediately, referring only to “Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States,” as observed in a copy reviewed by The Associated Press.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment Friday evening.
The terminations marked yet another escalation of norm-shattering moves that have raised alarm over the Trump administration’s disregard for civil service protections for career lawyers and the erosion of the Justice Department’s independence from the White House. Top leaders at the Justice Department have also fired employees who worked on the prosecutions against Trump and demoted a slew of career supervisors in what has been seen as an effort to purge the agency of lawyers seen as insufficiently loyal.
Trump’s sweeping pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters have led to worries about actions being taken against attorneys involved in the massive prosecution of the more than 1,500 Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of all of them on his first day back in the White House, releasing from prison people convicted of seditious conspiracy and violent assaults on police.
During his time as interim U.S. attorney in Washington, Ed Martin in February demoted several prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 cases, including the attorney who served as chief of the Capitol Siege Section. Others demoted include two lawyers who helped secure seditious conspiracy convictions against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio.
In January, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the firings of about two dozen prosecutors who had been hired for temporary assignments to support the Jan. 6 cases, but were moved into permanent roles after Trump’s presidential win in November. Bove said he would not “tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration.”
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