Donald Trump fires officials who worked for prosecutor Jack Smith for charges over the 2020 election

The US Justice Department is firing more than a dozen officials who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s cases against President Donald Trump on charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat and mishandling of classified documents.

The officials were fired after Acting Attorney-General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda,” Fox News reported on Monday, citing a Justice Department official.

“Today, McHenry terminated the employment of a number of (Justice Department) officials who played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump,” Fox cited the official as saying.

“In light of their actions, the Acting Attorney-General does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President’s agenda,” the official said.

Mr Smith, who resigned before Mr Trump took office, concluded in a report released this month that the president engaged in an “unprecedented criminal effort” to hold on to power after losing the 2020 election, but was thwarted in bringing the case to trial by the his November election victory.

Mr Trump’s lawyers have called Mr Smith’s report politically motivated. The president denies any wrongdoing in the cases, which Mr Smith dropped shortly after Mr Trump’s election win.

In a separate development, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that a Trump-appointed prosecutor had opened an internal review of the Justice Department’s decision to charge hundreds of January 6 defendants with felony obstruction offences in connection with the 2021 attack on the US Capitol.