WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has fired additional lawyers and support staff who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions of President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The overall number of terminations was not immediately clear but they cut across both the classified documents and election interference prosecutions brought by Smith, and included a handful of prosecutors who were detailed to the probes as well as Justice Department support staff and other non-lawyer personnel who aided them, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel moves that have not been publicly announced.
The firings are part of a broader wave of terminations that have roiled the department for months and that have targeted staff who worked on cases involving Trump and his supporters. In January, who worked on prosecutions of Trump, and involved in .
Days ago, Patty Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, whose prosecutors handled the cases against the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, said in a social media post that she had been handed a letter signed by informing her that she had been fired.
Smith's team in 2023 brought separate indictments accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his as well as conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the
Neither case reached trial. in a ruling that said former presidents enjoyed broad immunity from prosecution for their official acts, and a Trump-appointed judge dismissed the classified documents case by
Smith ultimately withdrew both cases in November 2024 after Trump's victory, citing a Justice Department legal opinion that protects sitting presidents from federal prosecution.
