On Friday, at least three federal prosecutors who worked on criminal cases against January 6 rioters were fired by the Justice Department.
NBC News, which saw a copy of one of the dismissal letters which were signed by President Donald Trump‘s Attorney General Pam Bondi, reported that the prosecutors were notified that their removal was immediate but were not given a reason for their removals.
Barb McQuade, former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2010 to 2017 (who stepped down when Trump first entered the White House), responded on social media by writing: “This administration is destroying the professional, apolitical federal workforce over Trump‘s hunger for revenge and disinformation about an imaginary deep state.”
Pam Bondi fires two more Jan. 6 prosecutors. This administration is destroying the professional, apolitical federal workforce over Trump‘s hunger for revenge and disinformation about an imaginary deep state.
https://t.co/zdDoWHuqHn— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) June 28, 2025
McQuade isn’t the only former US Attorney to object to Trump and Bondi’s decision to fire federal prosecutors based on their past workload.
When the Trump administration first threatened to fire federal prosecutors who worked on Jan6 cases in February, former GOP presidential candidate, New Jersey Governor and US Attorney Chris Christie, defended the Jan 6 prosecutors (and FBI agents) and said he believed they will sue Trump and win.
Christie emphasized that the work of those prosecutors resulted in “hundreds of convictions in front of juries and judges that were appointed by both Republican and Democrat administrations. Their convictions were brought by juries or guilty pleas that were accepted by both Republican and Democratic judges.”
.@GovChristie says FBI agents are “stunned by what’s happening” as the Trump DOJ seeks a list of potentially thousands of FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
“Their work resulted in convictions that were brought by juries or guilty pleas.” https://t.co/TQ5wHOfK0u pic.twitter.com/WMAr91Jzwy
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 2, 2025
Christie added: “If the President wants to pardon those people, that’s his right to do. But it’s not then his right to fire these folks,” who are all civil service protected. “So what’s going to happen for these folks who don’t go voluntarily is they’re going to file grievances and lawsuits, and they’re ultimately going to win them.”