WASHINGTON — At least three federal prosecutors who worked on cases against Jan. 6 rioters were fired Friday by the Justice Department, according to more than half a dozen current and former officials familiar with the dismissals.
A copy of one of the dismissal letters seen by NBC News was signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, notifying the recipient that they were “removed from federal service effective immediately.” No reason for the removal was stated in the letter.
One of the fired employees had been based overseas.
The Justice Department declined to comment Friday night.
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The Trump administration in late January fired probationary federal prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases and prosecutors who worked on former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump. The administration also demoted some career prosecutors who worked on the Capitol siege investigation.
Probationary workers are either recent hires or have taken new positions.
The firings on Friday, though, marked the first time that career prosecutors who had worked Jan. 6 cases and who were past their probationary period of federal employment had been fired. It was also the first time Bondi fired Justice Department lawyers involved in prosecuting Jan. 6 cases. Bondi was confirmed by the Senate in February, after the dismissal of probationary prosecutors.
The firings come at a time when the fallout from the Jan. 6 investigation — and Trump’s subsequent mass pardon of even the most violent rioters — continues to loom over employees at both the Justice Department and the FBI. Numerous current and former officials have told NBC News that the targeting of people who worked on the largest investigation in FBI history have had a chilling effect on the Justice Department workforce, and would leave career prosecutors and FBI officials hesitant to pursue cases against any Trump allies for fear of being targeted by the administration.
One federal law enforcement official called Friday’s firings “horrifying” and noted that both of the prosecutors had been serving in other capacities before the 2024 election.
“To fire them, without explanation, is a slap in the face not only to them, but to all career DOJ prosecutors,” the official said. “No one is safe from this administration’s whims and impulses. And the public certainly is not served by the continued brain drain of DOJ — we are losing the best among us every day.”
