Mass Firings Rock DOJ: Special Counsel’s Team, Ethics Chief Among Those Ousted
Twenty employees of the Department of Justice who had worked with former special counsel Jack Smith were terminated on Friday, according to a source familiar with the situation. The individuals dismissed include two prosecutors, 12 support staff members, and six U.S. Marshals. These personnel had been involved in investigations concerning classified documents and the 2020 election.
Reports from Axios and Reuters previously indicated that employees associated with these cases had been terminated on Friday.
This action follows the dismissal of over a dozen officials who had worked with Smith in January. Smith himself resigned prior to President Trump taking office earlier this year. Both investigations overseen by Smith were dismissed after the recent presidential election. The White House has not provided comment regarding these developments.
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In addition to these terminations, other Department of Justice employees have been dismissed in the past week. Joseph Tirrell, who served as the director of the Departmental Ethics Office, announced his termination via LinkedIn on Monday.
He shared a letter he received from Attorney General Pam Bondi, stating that he was “the senior ethics attorney at the Department of Justice responsible for advising the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General directly on federal employee ethics,” and that he oversaw the ethics program’s daily operations.
Patty Hartman, a public affairs employee who worked in the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s Office during January 6th prosecutions, was also terminated, as reported by CBS News.
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Hartman commented to CBS News on July 10, stating, “There used to be a line, used to be a very distinct separation between the White House and the Department of Justice, because one should not interfere with the work of the other. That line is very definitely gone.”
In his final report, Jack Smith indicated that President Trump would have been convicted if he had not won the election. However, Smith also noted that he did not pursue insurrection charges, citing an inability to establish that the January 6th events constituted more than a riot or that Trump incited it. Smith had attempted to expedite both cases before the recent election, but neither proceeded to trial.
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