Team Trump forced out another U.S. attorney who failed to toe the White House line

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The more Team Trump ousts federal prosecutors who’ve done nothing wrong, the more serious the law enforcement scandal becomes.

The Bush/Cheney US Attorney scandal lasted months, generated dramatic congressional hearings, led to many resignations, and contributed to the ouster of an attorney general.

Trump’s ongoing campaign against prosecutors is, in some ways, worse. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-10-15T20:47:47.897Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/team-trump-forced-another-us-attorney-failed-toe-white-house-line-rcna237766

His tenure, however, was short-lived for an unexpected reason. The New York Times reported:

Career prosecutors at the Justice Department do not believe criminal charges are warranted from an investigation seeking to discredit an earlier F.B.I. inquiry into Russia’s attempt to tilt the 2016 election in President Trump’s favor, according to people familiar with the matter. It leaves unclear what political appointees at the Justice Department might do, given the breadth of Mr. Trump’s demands that it pursue people he perceives as enemies.

.....Senior officials at Trump’s Justice Department reportedly ordered Gilbert to open a grand jury investigation related to the FBI’s handling of Trump’s Russia scandal. Gilbert reviewed the matter and told his superiors he couldn’t find sufficient evidence of a crime.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (both of whom worked as defense lawyers for Trump) not only weren’t satisfied with Gilbert’s assessment, they also blamed a veteran prosecutor named Zachary Lee (who was appointed by George W. Bush) for swaying the U.S. attorney not to pursue a case.....

Shortly after Gilbert was ousted as the U.S. attorney in Virginia’s western district, Erik Siebert was also ousted as the U.S. attorney in Virginia’s eastern district because he wouldn’t bring baseless criminal charges against Trump’s political enemies.

Michael Ben’Ary, top national security prosecutor in Virginia, was fired after a pro-Trump activist peddled a baseless accusation against him; a federal prosecutor in Miami was recently fired because far-right activists discovered that he criticized Trump eight years ago while in private practice; and a federal prosecutor in California was recently fired because she urged immigration officials to comply with a court order.

For that matter, the full list of prosecutors caught up in the purge of federal law enforcement because they worked on cases the president didn’t like has been difficult to keep up with.

[OLDMDDEM]

1. I can't imagine the amount of work it will take to bring the Justice Department back to normal once these criminals

are no longer in office. It will be horrendous.