Acting Attorney General  James McHenry fired several Department of Justice (DOJ) employees Monday for having played a “significant role in prosecuting President Trump,” according to the memo obtained by CNN.

The memo sent to the employees gave them formal notice of their immediate removal from their position at the DOJ, and from the federal service, stating that the trust needed to implement the president’s agenda faithfully was broken. McHenry justified the actions by citing Article II of the Constitution, acknowledging Trump’s executive power as president.

The lawyers who were terminated all formally worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022. Smith and his team conducted two separate criminal investigations of President Trump while in office. Smith, who resigned from his position earlier this month, attempted to take sole responsibility for these prosecutions in his Final Report as Special Counsel on January 7:

While I relied greatly on the counsel, judgment, and advice of our team, I want it to be clear that the ultimate decision to bring charges against Mr. Trump was mine. It is a decision I stand behind fully. To have done otherwise on the facts developed during our work would have been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor and a public servant. After nearly 30 years of public service, that is a choice I could not abide.

Smith also denied that any external or internal influences motivated these prosecutions. Former US Attorney Joyce Vance, an NBC News legal contributor, addressed the matter with the news source stating, “Firing prosecutors because of cases they were assigned to work on is just unacceptable. It’s anti-rule of law; it’s anti-democracy.” These prosecutions were dropped in November for Trump’s then impending inauguration. 

Although the number of individuals who have been affected by this decision is still not clear, it is estimated that there have been more than a dozen employees fired. As stated at the end of the termination memo, those fired may have a right to appeal the removal with the US Merit Systems Protection Board within 30 days of the effective date.