Trump fires officials who worked for prosecutor Jack Smith

28/1/2025 6:06

The Justice Department is

firing more than a dozen officials who worked on Special Counsel

Jack Smith's cases against President Donald Trump on charges of

trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat and mishandling of

classified documents, Fox News reported on Monday.



The officials were fired after Acting Attorney General James

McHenry said they could not be trusted in "faithfully

implementing the president’s agenda," Fox reported, citing a

Justice Department official.



"Today...McHenry terminated the employment of a number of

(Justice Department) officials who played a significant role in

prosecuting President Trump," Fox cited the official as saying.



"In light of their actions, the Acting Attorney General does

not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing

the President’s agenda," the official said.



Smith, who resigned before Trump took office, concluded in a

report released this month that the president engaged in an

"unprecedented criminal effort" to hold on to power after losing

the 2020 election, but was thwarted in bringing the case to

trial by the his November election victory.



Trump's lawyers have called Smith's report politically

motivated. The president denies any wrongdoing in the cases,

which Smith dropped shortly after Trump's election win.



In a separate development, the Wall Street Journal reported

on Monday that a Trump-appointed prosecutor had opened an

internal review of the Justice Department's decision to charge

hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants with felony obstruction offenses

in connection with the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.