The Justice Department announced that it had dismissed over a dozen employees involved in the criminal investigations against President Donald Trump. This move appears to be a quick response aimed at taking action against the lawyers who were part of the investigation, showing a willingness to act in the president's favour.

The sudden firing of career prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith's team is the latest sign of turmoil within the Justice Department. It also aligns with the administration's goal of removing government workers it considers disloyal to the president. On Monday, a significant decision was made, which broke with tradition. This move came after several senior career officials were reassigned across different divisions. Normally, regular prosecutors stay with the department through different presidential administrations and aren't penalised for their involvement in sensitive investigations. However, these firings are immediate.

According to a Justice Department official's statement, Acting Attorney General James McHenry fired several DOJ officials who were instrumental in President Trump's prosecution."In light of their actions, the Acting Attorney General does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President's agenda. This action is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponisation of government.” It wasn't clear right away which prosecutors were affected by the order or how many of those who worked on the investigations into Trump stayed with the department after he took office last week. It was also unclear how many of the fired prosecutors planned to challenge their dismissals, arguing that the department had ignored the civil service protections that federal employees are entitled to. This action was part of an ongoing effort to shift the focus away from criminal investigations that have followed Trump for years. These investigations led to separate charges that were never taken to trial and were eventually dropped.

On his first day in office, Trump granted pardons and sentence reductions to more than 1,500 people involved in the January 6th Capitol riot. This large-scale clemency benefited people convicted of violent attacks on police officers, as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups who were convicted for failed attempts to keep Trump in power. Trump has consistently tried to have influence over the Justice Department, which investigated him both during his first term and in the last four years under former Attorney General Merrick Garland. He has repeatedly said he expects loyalty from law enforcement, which is supposed to prioritise facts, evidence, and the law over politics. He has worked to place close allies in key positions, such as replacing his first FBI director, Christopher Wray, with loyalist Kash Patel. At her confirmation hearing this month, Pam Bondi, who was chosen by Trump to be attorney general, stated that she would not let politics influence her decisions. However, she didn’t rule out the possibility of investigating Trump’s opponents, such as special counsel Jack Smith.

Smith recently resigned from the Department of Justice after submitting a two-volume report on the investigations into Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Another key member of the team, Jay Bratt, also retired this month after playing a major role as a prosecutor in the classified documents case. Smith's team dropped both the election interference case and the classified documents prosecution after Trump's presidential victory in November, following the Justice Department's long-standing policy.