The United States justice department on Friday dismissed at least three prosecutors involved in cases related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.
The firings included two supervisors from the Washington attorney office which oversaw Capitol riot cases, and a line prosecutor directly involved in the prosecutions. The dismissals were confirmed by sources who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
One of the prosecutors received a termination letter signed by attorney general Pam Bondi. It offered no specific reason for the firing, citing only “Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States.” The termination was effective immediately.
The justice department declined to comment.
The move is part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration that has raised concerns about political interference and the erosion of the department’s independence from the White House.
Senior officials have removed or demoted multiple career attorneys, some of whom were directly involved in prosecuting Trump or his supporters, in what is widely viewed as a purge of those considered insufficiently loyal.
Trump’s sweeping pardons of all January 6 rioters on his first day back in office intensified fears of retaliation against those who led the prosecution of more than 1,500 individuals involved in the attack. The pardons included people convicted of seditious conspiracy and violent assaults on police officers.
In February, interim US attorney Ed Martin demoted several prosecutors, including the former chief of the Capitol siege section and two others who helped secure convictions against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.
Earlier, in January, then-acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove fired around two dozen prosecutors originally hired on temporary assignments to support the Capitol riot cases. These lawyers had recently been moved into permanent roles following Trump’s election win. Bove said at the time he would not “tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration.”
The firings included two supervisors from the Washington attorney office which oversaw Capitol riot cases, and a line prosecutor directly involved in the prosecutions. The dismissals were confirmed by sources who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
One of the prosecutors received a termination letter signed by attorney general Pam Bondi. It offered no specific reason for the firing, citing only “Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States.” The termination was effective immediately.
The justice department declined to comment.
The move is part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration that has raised concerns about political interference and the erosion of the department’s independence from the White House.
Senior officials have removed or demoted multiple career attorneys, some of whom were directly involved in prosecuting Trump or his supporters, in what is widely viewed as a purge of those considered insufficiently loyal.
Trump’s sweeping pardons of all January 6 rioters on his first day back in office intensified fears of retaliation against those who led the prosecution of more than 1,500 individuals involved in the attack. The pardons included people convicted of seditious conspiracy and violent assaults on police officers.
In February, interim US attorney Ed Martin demoted several prosecutors, including the former chief of the Capitol siege section and two others who helped secure convictions against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.
Earlier, in January, then-acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove fired around two dozen prosecutors originally hired on temporary assignments to support the Capitol riot cases. These lawyers had recently been moved into permanent roles following Trump’s election win. Bove said at the time he would not “tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration.”
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