Special Prosecutor Jack Smith walks away and addresses reporters after his grand jury issued more indictments of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023. (Credit: Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
The Justice Department is firing “over a dozen” officials who were part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s teams that prosecuted President Donald Trump, officials confirmed to ABC News Monday.
Acting Attorney General James McHenry transmitted letters to the officials informing them of their termination, officials said, that said given their part in the prosecutions they couldn’t be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”
(…) “You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump,” the email from Acting Attorney General McHenry said to the officials fired Monday. “The proper functioning of the government critically depends on the trust superior officials place in their subordinates. 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.”
While several career officials who played prominent roles in Smith’s prosecutions departed prior to Trump taking office — including former top DOJ national security official Jay Bratt — several other career attorneys who were on Smith’s team chose to remain and return to roles in DOJ’s national security and criminal divisions.
Among those officials were longtime career trial attorneys Molly Gaston, J.P. Cooney, Mary Dohrmann and Anne McNamara, all of whom were informed of their terminations Monday, an official confirmed to ABC News. (Read more: ABC News, 1/27/2025) (Archive)