Washington, DC [US], January 28 : US Justice Department (DOJ) has fired several prosecutors who worked on criminal investigation into US President Donald Trump, CNN reported citing sources familiar with the matter.
Acting Attorney General James McHenry in a letter written to the officials said they cannot be "trusted" to "faithfully" implement agenda of Trump. He stated that these officials played a "significant role" in prosecuting Trump and stressed that the proper functioning of the government critically relies on the trust senior officials have in their subordinates.
McHenry wrote, "You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. The proper functioning of government critically depends on the trust superior officials place in their subordinates."
He added, "Given your significant role in prosecuting the President, I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President's agenda faithfully."
The move comes as the Trump administration is taking measures to probe prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against January 6 defendants after Trump announced he would seek retribution as a key pledge of his campaign, CNN reported, citing multiple sources who have seen an internal memo on the matter.
The interim US attorney in Washington, DC, Ed Martin, has started a probe into prosecutors who brought obstruction charges under US Code 1512(c) against some rioters that were ultimately tossed due to Supreme Court decision last summer.
Calling the effort a "special project," Martin in the memo issued on Monday stated that the attorneys should give "all information you have related to the use of 1512 charges, including all files, documents, notes, emails, and other information" to two of the office's long-term prosecutors who must submit a report on the investigation by Friday.
The memo reads, "Obviously the use was a great failure of our office - s. ct. decision - and we need to get to the bottom of it," referencing the Supreme Court decision in June that restricted the power of federal prosecutors to pursue obstruction charges against the January 6 rioters, CNN reported.
The decision comes at a time when the US Justice Department has already witnessed a dramatic shakeup as officials related to high-profile probe have been reassigned, including the now-dismissed case against Trump himself for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases have said that the memo sparks concerns that the US Justice Department has started to "investigate the investigators" which Trump has long threatened, CNN reported.
Speaking to CNN, one person who worked on Capitol riot cases said prosecutors were not aware whether this probe is looking to introduce criminal or civil charges and that some have begun to hire their own lawyers for their defence. Since assuming office last week, Ed Martin has praised Trump for issuing mass pardons for January 6 defendants.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor