The Trump administration’s Justice Department on Friday fired at least three career prosecutors who were involved in criminal cases stemming from the January 6 Capitol attack marking the latest and most aggressive move in what many see as a political purge of federal attorneys who helped prosecute the violent insurrection.
According to sources familiar with the matter, those dismissed include two supervisory attorneys from the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, and a line prosecutor directly involved in Capitol riot cases.
A letter that was received by one of the prosecutors was signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The letter did not provide a reason for their removal, effective immediately, citing only “Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States,” according to a copy seen by The Associated Press.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment.
The firings come amid growing concern over the Trump administration’s targeting of legal professionals tied to the January 6 prosecutions, which have led to more than 1,500 criminal cases against Trump supporters involved in the assault on the US Capitol during the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
The mass prosecution effort, once described as the largest in American history, now appears to be unraveling under a wave of politically motivated removals. On his first day back in the White House in January, Trump issued sweeping pardons and commutations for every convicted Capitol rioter, including those found guilty of seditious conspiracy and violent attacks on law enforcement.
Friday’s firings follow a series of actions taken earlier this year that further decimated the DOJ’s Jan. 6 task force. In February, interim US Attorney Ed Martin demoted several senior prosecutors, including the head of the Capitol Siege Section and two attorneys who had helped secure high-profile convictions against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.
In January, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove also terminated roughly two dozen temporary prosecutors who had been transitioned into permanent roles after Trump’s November election victory. At the time, Bove said he would not “tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration,” signaling a firm intent to cleanse the department of prosecutors viewed as disloyal to Trump.
The combination of mass pardons and targeted removals has alarmed legal experts, former Justice Department officials, and watchdog groups. Critics warn that the moves undermine the independence of the Justice Department and suggest that loyalty to the president rather than adherence to the law is becoming the key qualification for federal legal roles.
“This is not just a personnel shift it’s a deliberate dismantling of accountability,” said a former DOJ official who requested anonymity. “These prosecutors carried out their duty in one of the most important cases in American history. To punish them now is chilling.”
With Trump’s administration now firmly back in control of the Justice Department, many fear further reversals of legal accountability stemming from the Capitol attack and a dangerous precedent for future prosecutions of political violence.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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