US Justice fires several more employees from Trump investigation team, sources say
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US Attorney-General Pam Bondi has reportedly fired more Justice Department employees who worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate President Donald Trump.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
WASHINGTON - US Attorney-General Pam Bondi has fired several more Justice Department employees who worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to five people familiar with the matter.
About 20 lawyers, support staff and US Marshals who worked on Mr Smith’s probe were terminated on July 11, according to one of the sources.
At least two of the people fired were prosecutors who most recently worked in other US Attorneys’ offices in Florida and North Carolina, three of the sources told Reuters.
The Justice Department since January has been dismissing employees who worked on matters involving Mr Trump or his supporters, citing Mr Trump’s executive powers under the US Constitution.
A spokesperson for Mr Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fourteen attorneys who worked on Smith’s team were fired on Jan 27 because of work on cases against Mr Trump, becoming some of the department’s earliest employees who were dismissed. Department leadership told those attorneys in termination letters that they could not be trusted to carry out Mr Trump’s agenda because of their work on Mr Smith’s probe.
Including the people fired on July 11, at least 37 people who worked on Mr Smith’s team have been terminated since Mr Trump took office on Jan 20.
The Justice Department in recent months has also fired people who handled casework involving defendants who stormed the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, in an attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
In late June, three prosecutors, one of whom had worked on cases involving the Proud Boys, were fired. Earlier this month, Ms Bondi also fired a career veteran of the department who served as a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office in Washington.
In late January, the Justice Department also fired probationary prosecutors who had worked on Jan 6 cases.
Mr Smith brought two criminal cases against Mr Trump in 2023, accusing him of illegally retaining national security documents and plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
Both were dropped before Mr Trump returned to office. REUTERS
