The administration of US President Donald Trump has dismissed more than a dozen Justice Department lawyers who were involved in two high-profile criminal cases against him.

The firings, effective immediately, came after Acting Attorney General James McHenry concluded the lawyers could not “be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda due to their significant role in prosecuting the president,” a department official told CBS News.

The dismissed lawyers were part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s team that investigated Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. Both cases led to criminal charges against Trump, to which he pleaded not guilty.

Following Trump’s election victory in November, the cases were closed, with prosecutors citing Justice Department regulations that bar the prosecution of a sitting president.

It remains unclear which members of Smith’s team were fired. Many of them were career prosecutors with expertise in corruption and national security who had served across multiple administrations. Reports indicate they received letters on Monday stating their involvement in prosecuting Trump rendered them unsuitable to remain at the department.

“Firing prosecutors because of the cases they worked on is unacceptable,” former US Attorney Joyce Vance told NBC News. “It undermines the rule of law and democracy.”

The dismissals are part of a broader shake-up within the Justice Department, which has seen the reassignment of top officials specializing in national security and public corruption. On Monday, the chief of the public integrity section resigned amid the upheaval.

Allegations of Political Retaliation

Trump and his allies have repeatedly accused the Justice Department of pursuing politically motivated cases against him and other Republicans. During his re-election campaign, Trump vowed to overhaul the department, claiming it had been “weaponized” against him.

Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department, echoed his accusations, stating that federal prosecutions against him were acts of political persecution and alleging the department had been “weaponized for years.”

Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led the investigations, publicly defended his work. In a letter accompanying his final report on Trump’s actions following the 2020 election, he wrote: “The claim that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.”

Internal Review of Capitol Riot Cases

Meanwhile, Washington, D.C.’s top federal prosecutor announced an internal review of charging decisions in Capitol riot cases. Acting US Attorney Edward Martin, a Trump appointee, ordered prosecutors to submit documents and communications related to obstruction charges brought against over 200 defendants from the January 6 attack.

The firings and internal reviews underscore the deepening tensions between Trump’s administration and the Justice Department, as critics warn of potential threats to the rule of law and democratic norms.