Key Points
Trump aims to reset DOJ leadership after perceived political bias
Denise Cheung resigns after declining controversial investigation
Action signals broader effort to reshape federal prosecution
Seeks to restore "fairness" in justice system
Trump emphasised the need to "clean house" and restore confidence in the justice system, asserting that a fair justice system is essential for America's "golden age" to thrive.
He also said that this action would mark the beginning of a new era of fairness and integrity in the US legal system.
Sharing a post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said, "Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicised like never before. Therefore, I have instructed the termination of all remaining 'Biden Era' US Attorneys. We must "clean house" immediately, and restore confidence. America's Golden Age must have a fair Justice System - that begins today!"
Meanwhile, the top criminal prosecutor in the Washington, DC, US Attorney's Office, Denise Cheung, resigned on Tuesday after declining a request from her Trump-appointed superiors to open a grand jury investigation that she viewed as premature, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, CNN reported.
The direction came from Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, and was directed to Ed Martin, whom President Donald Trump has nominated to become the permanent US Attorney for DC.
Cheung, a long-serving DOJ official, had been asked to oversee an investigation into a funding decision made by the Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden administration, with the goal of using DOJ powers to freeze the funding.
"Earlier yesterday, I was asked to review documentation supplied by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General to open a criminal investigation into whether a contract had been unlawfully awarded by an executive agency before the change in Administration and to issue grand jury subpoenas pursuant to this investigation," Cheung wrote in a resignation letter to Martin on Tuesday obtained by CNN.
