- DOJ under President Trump is purging career prosecutors, replacing them with politically aligned appointees, undermining prosecutorial independence.
- Todd Gilbert and Zachary Lee resigned after refusing to bow to pressure to replace Lee amid a politically driven "burn-bag" probe.
- Experts warn the firings politicize federal law enforcement, risk losing institutional expertise, and erode the rule of law.
WASHINGTON—In a stark illustration of the tensions gripping the Justice Department under President Donald Trump’s second term, two veteran federal prosecutors in Virginia have been ousted after clashing with administration officials over politically charged investigations.
The departures, first detailed in a New York Times report this week, underscore growing concerns among legal experts that the DOJ is increasingly bending to White House demands for retribution against Trump’s perceived adversaries, eroding long-standing norms of prosecutorial independence.
At the center of the latest controversy is Todd Gilbert, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, who resigned abruptly in August following intense pressure from top DOJ brass.
Gilbert’s exit stemmed from his refusal to sideline or fire his deputy, Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Lee, a career prosecutor whom administration officials labeled a “Biden holdover”—despite Lee having been hired under George W. Bush and promoted during Trump’s first term.
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The rift boiled over an inquiry ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel into alleged evidence destruction during the FBI’s now-defunct 2016 investigation into Russian election interference, a probe Trump has repeatedly branded a “witch hunt.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Patel directed Gilbert to scrutinize reports of classified documents being stuffed into “burn bags” at FBI headquarters—a routine security practice for disposing of printed sensitive materials stored primarily on computers.
Gilbert’s team, led by Lee, reviewed the evidence and concluded it didn’t justify convening a grand jury or pursuing charges against FBI personnel.
That assessment didn’t sit well with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who reportedly pinned the blame on Lee and urged Gilbert to replace him with Robert Tracci, a more compliant figure.
When Gilbert pushed back, DOJ officials warned him of imminent dismissal, prompting his resignation.
Gilbert’s departure wasn’t subtle. He reposted a photo from his swearing-in ceremony alongside a GIF from the 2004 comedy Anchorman, captioned “Boy, that escalated quickly.”
On Monday, after news broke of Lee’s own resignation as acting U.S. attorney, Gilbert took to social media to defend his former deputy: “Zach Lee is a consummate professional and respected career prosecutor. I quickly learned to appreciate and respect his talent and wisdom. Zach dutifully carried out his duties for years no matter the situation, and his departure is a tremendous loss to all.”
Warnings of Politicizing Federal Law Rise
Lee, for his part, framed his exit as a natural career pivot, announcing he’d join the Roanoke-based law firm Gentry Locke in its white-collar defense and compliance practice. “As I make my transition from a career in public service to the private sector, I could think of no firm I’d rather join than Gentry Locke,” he told The Roanoke Times.
Tracci now serves as acting U.S. attorney for the district, and the burn-bag investigation appears to have fizzled out without further action.
This episode in Virginia is far from isolated. Since Trump returned to the White House in January, the DOJ has undergone a sweeping purge, firing or forcing out dozens of career prosecutors seen as insufficiently aligned with the administration’s priorities.
A Washington Post analysis in July tallied at least several dozen dismissals in the first six months alone, transforming what was once a rare sanction for misconduct into routine housecleaning.
Critics, including former DOJ officials, warn this risks hollowing out institutional expertise and politicizing federal law enforcement.
Corruption or Hoax?
Take the case of Erik Siebert, the former interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Siebert resigned in September under direct White House pressure after a months-long probe into alleged mortgage fraud by New York Attorney General Letitia James—a vocal Trump critic—yielded no viable charges.
Career prosecutors deemed the evidence “fatally flawed and weak,” but Trump publicly demanded Siebert’s ouster, telling reporters he wanted him “out.”
Siebert’s replacement? Lindsey Halligan, a White House lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience, who swiftly secured grand jury indictments against James and former FBI Director James Comey on unrelated matters.
The Adams saga in New York offers another flashpoint. In February, six senior DOJ officials—including Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon—resigned en masse rather than obey an order to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The case, involving allegations of illegal campaign contributions from Turkish officials, unraveled amid claims of White House interference tied to Adams’ cooperation on immigration enforcement.
Emil Bove, a former Trump defense lawyer turned DOJ official, issued the dismissal directive, prompting Sassoon to decry it as a potential “quid pro quo” in an internal memo to Bondi.
Trump denied meddling, but the resignations evoked memories of his first-term firing of FBI Director James Comey to halt the Russia probe.
Fear of Retribution Sparks Chain or Resignations
Retribution against those who pursued Trump himself has been even more aggressive. In late January, the DOJ terminated at least 12 officials linked to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election—cases dismissed after his reelection due to DOJ policy barring prosecution of a sitting president.
Among them: prosecutors Molly Gaston, J.P. Cooney, Anne McNamara, and Mary Dohrmann. Acting Attorney General James McHenry justified the moves in termination letters, stating the officials “could not be trusted to faithfully implement the President’s agenda.”
Smith’s team had also drawn fire; he resigned ahead of the inauguration.
Draining the Swamp? Or Covering a Mess?
The purges extended to January 6-related cases. Ed Martin, Trump’s interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., launched a “special project” in January to scrutinize obstruction charges used against over 200 Capitol riot defendants—a tactic later curtailed by the Supreme Court.
By February, about two dozen DOJ employees involved in those prosecutions were sacked, alongside demands for lists of FBI agents who worked the cases.
In March, the administration escalated further, firing around 50 prosecutors and deputies in a broad overhaul, including acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Fondren in Tennessee and veteran prosecutor Jonathan Schleifer in New York—whose ousters came via curt White House emails citing no cause beyond presidential directive.
National security and public integrity units haven’t been spared. In early October, Michael Ben’Ary, a top national security prosecutor, was axed hours after a pro-Trump commentator speculated—without evidence—about his role in resisting Comey’s indictment.
Ben’Ary, a 20-year DOJ veteran, penned a farewell memo urging colleagues to resist “political interference,” lamenting the department’s slide into disappointment.
Around the same time, Corey Amundson, chief of the public integrity section, resigned amid the Comey pushback.
Legal observers see a pattern. “Firing prosecutors because of cases they were assigned to work on is just unacceptable,” former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance told NBC News. “It’s anti-rule of law; it’s anti-democracy.”
House Democrats have fired off letters accusing the moves of violating merit-based civil service protections.
Even as Trump racks up wins—like indictments against Comey and James—the human cost mounts, with experienced hands jumping ship or getting shoved out.
For now, the investigations Gilbert and Lee declined to pursue remain dormant, a quiet rebuke amid the louder clamor of purges.
But as one fired prosecutor put it in a private email chain: In a DOJ reshaped by loyalty tests, the real crime might be the slow erosion of justice itself.
There might just be more to all this that meets the eye.
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