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By Gabe Whisnant and Sonam Sheth
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A top Justice Department official ordered the dismissal of several prosecutors on Friday who were hired to work on cases against individuals charged in the U.S. Capitol riot, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove instructed the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., to carry out the firings, which come just days after President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. The president also commuted the sentences of more than a dozen people convicted of crimes including seditious conspiracy in connection to the deadly siege.
The Context
Friday's directive coincides with the Trump administration's plans to dismiss at least some FBI agents who were involved in investigating the president over his actions related to the riot and his hoarding of classified documents after leaving office in 2021. Two people familiar with the plans confirmed them to the Associated Press on Friday.
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Newsweek reached out to the attorney general's office via email Friday night for comment.
What To Know
The exact number of prosecutors who were fired Friday is not clear, but the Washington Post put the number at approximately 30. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to the AP's request for comment.
A third individual familiar with the situation told the AP that U.S. attorneys were instructed during a call this week to submit the names of prosecutors and agents involved in the hundreds of cases against the rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The purpose of collecting these names was not clarified during the call, according to the AP.
Since Trump took office, his administration has ordered the firings of hundreds of civil service, government watchdogs and career officials deemed insufficiently loyal to the president and his agenda.
In addition to sweeping personnel changes at the Justice Department, the president also ordered the closure of all federal government offices focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and directed that staffers within those offices be immediately placed on paid leave.
Along with pardoning people who were convicted in connection to the Capitol riot, the Trump administration is also reportedly in talks with lawyers representing New York City mayor Eric Adams, who was charged with bribery and other offenses and is seeking to have the case against him dropped.
The New York Times reported that top Justice Department officials met Friday with prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and Adams' defense attorneys to discuss dropping the charges against him.
Elsewhere, the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee said in a legal filing late Thursday that two federal prosecutors working on a criminal investigation into Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles, a top Trump ally, are withdrawing from the probe. The inquiry has instead been transferred in full to the Justice Department's public integrity section.
Newsweek previously reached out to the White House for comment via email about the Ogles investigation and criticism of the Trump administration's decision to fire career prosecutors and civil servants engaged in investigating him and the Capitol riot.
What People Are Saying
The FBI Agents Association said of the Trump administration's reported plan to fire agents involved in the Trump investigations: "Dismissing potentially hundreds of Agents would severely weaken the Bureau's ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats and will ultimately risk setting up the Bureau and its new leadership for failure."
What Happens Next
Trump has signed a slew of executive actions seeking to drastically trim the federal bureaucracy since taking office on January 20. But he's been met with significant resistance in the form of lawsuits brought by civil rights groups, immigrants' rights advocates and labor unions representing federal employees, many of which are still being litigated.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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