Pam Bondi Fires DOJ Staffers Who Worked On Trump Cases Amid Chaos At Agency
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Pam Bondi Fires DOJ Trump Prosecutions Staff
Attorney General Pam Bondi fired at least nine DOJ employees who worked on criminal cases against President Donald Trump, according to multiple reports. The terminations come as Bondi herself has come under fire, after the DOJ said in a memo Monday that it would not release any further information on its investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck and Laura Loomer have called for Bondi to be fired or resign. An additional 15 employees are still working at the DOJ but could still be fired, as the administration continues to investigate whether they’re perceived enemies of the president. The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment, but has said the firings are part of an effort to root out “abuses of the criminal justice process” and seek retribution against Trump’s perceived enemies. The DOJ previously fired approximately 15 prosecutors from the cases in January, before Bondi was confirmed as attorney general.
Key Facts
Bondi fired at least nine DOJ employees who worked on the criminal cases against Trump in recent days, The New York Times and Reuters report citing anonymous sources, while Axios reports the attorney general fired more than 20 people. The firings came out of Bondi’s “Weaponization Working Group,” according to Axios, which the agency has described as an effort to root out “abuses of the criminal justice process,” but has also been criticized as a way for the DOJ to carry out retribution against Trump’s perceived enemies. Prosecutors who worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith on the criminal cases were fired, along with support staff who provided logistical help on the investigations, which the Times reports marks the first time that support employees on the criminal cases are believed to have lost their jobs. The DOJ previously fired approximately 15 prosecutors from the cases in January, before Bondi was confirmed as attorney general, and Reuters reported two more employees were fired in June. That brings the total number of fired employees who were involved with the criminal cases to at least 26, per Reuters’ count, while Axios pegs the number at 35. The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment.
What To Watch For: More Firings
An additional 15 employees are still working at the DOJ but could still be fired, according to Axios, as the administration continues its investigation into whether they’re perceived enemies of the president. “We’re reviewing and making sure,” an anonymous administration official told Axios. “Some of these people were burrowed deep, and we’re finding them and making a determination.”
Tangent
The terminations come as Bondi herself has come under fire, after the DOJ said in a memo Monday that it would not release any further information on its investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and denied the existence of any “list” detailing Epstein’s associates. The government’s refusal to disclose further information about the Epstein case has provoked an outcry from many of Trump’s supporters, with key right-wing figures like Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck and Laura Loomer calling for Bondi to be fired or resign. “Pam Bondi should resign—not because of a cover-up, but for incompetence,” Beck wrote on X on Tuesday, while Loomer has dubbed Bondi “Scam Blondi” and claimed the attorney general is “harming Trump’s administration and she’s embarrassing all of his staff and advisors by creating a PR crisis for them.” The outcry over the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein case prompted Bondi to delay firing the employees tied to Trump’s criminal cases, Axios reports, which were initially supposed to take place earlier this week.
Key Background
The Biden-era DOJ brought two criminal cases against Trump, one for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and another for allegedly withholding classified documents. Trump pleaded not guilty to both sets of charges and the cases ultimately died after his election, with prosecutors moving to dismiss both cases based on the DOJ’s policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. Trump long railed against the criminal cases against him, decrying them as politically motivated “witch hunts” that were brought in order to harm his presidential campaign. Trump appointed Bondi as attorney general after numerous reports suggested the president wanted a loyalist who would do his bidding and seek retribution against his enemies, after Trump faced pushback in his first term from previous attorneys general like William Barr. Bondi and her DOJ have so far acted largely in line with Trump’s agenda, also firing prosecutors involved with criminal cases against Jan. 6 rioters and carrying out Trump’s hardline immigration agenda to the extent of facing accusations of defying court orders. (The Trump administration has denied knowingly violating any orders.)
Further Reading