President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly set to attempt to fire the attorneys who worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith investigating the former president for his alleged mishandling of classified documents and for his connection to the Capitol riot.
Those affected are likely to include career professionals usually shielded from such revenge efforts, , according to The Washington Post.
Trump is also set to put together groups to look for evidence that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud.
“President Trump campaigned on firing rogue bureaucrats who have engaged in the illegal weaponization of our American justice system, and the American people can expect he will deliver on that promise,” Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the paper. “One of the many reasons that President Trump won the election in a landslide is Americans are sick and tired of seeing their tax dollars spent on targeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s political enemies rather than going after real violent criminals in our streets.”
“President Trump and his transition team speak for him, and anonymous sources not affiliated with him have no idea what they are talking about,” she added.
The president-elect still speaks about the 2020 election on a regular basis, convinced that it was stolen from him in the key swing states and he has remained steadfast in his belief that Smith’s investigation into how he attempted to overturn the results and into his alleged mishandling of classified documents were equivalent to a weaponization of government for which he’s now seeking revenge.
One person familiar with the plans told The Post that the notion of putting together teams of investigators in key swing states is less formed and not at the “top of the list” of priorities. But Trump appears deadset on getting rid of anyone at the Department of Justice who he believes came after him.
“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans,” Trump said in his statement announcing his new pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, following the departure of Matt Gaetz.
“Not anymore. Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again,” he added.
Smith is set to reveal in court filings on December 2 how he plans to wind down the cases against Trump in adherence with department policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.
Trump enacted an executive order before leaving office known as Schedule F, which reclassified a massive number of career government employees, simplifying the process of removing them.
While President Joe Biden reversed that order and increased protections for career members of staff, Trump has said that he plans to reinstate Schedule F. But even if he’s successful in doing so, legal observers told The Post that it may take years for it to go through the courts.
Smith’s office is made up of attorneys, FBI agents, and support staff from across the Justice Department. Most are career staffers from the main Justice Department building in downtown Washington, D.C., or from the offices of U.S. attorneys across the U.S.
In previous special counsel probs, such lawyers have usually returned to their regular jobs once their temporary assignment is done. Some members of the Smith team have already gone back to their regular jobs, according to The Post. Meanwhile, some departments haven’t been told when their employees may return.
While Trump has indicated that he may try to prosecute state-level officials, he and his allies haven’t been able to provide evidence of fraud.
He wrote in September that there was “rampant cheating” in 2020 and that those responsible would “be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include long-term prison sentences.”
On Truth Social, he wrote “Please beware, that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
