Former President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before leaving the White House on September 20.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP/File
Describing the scale of Donald Trump’s norm-breaking behavior as president is no simple task. But perhaps the most telling evidence comes not from his critics—but from the surprising number of people who once worked closely with him and later sounded the alarm.
Many officials appointed by Trump, especially within the Justice Department, eventually reached a breaking point. What began as attempts to serve under his leadership often ended in resignations, firings, or public rebukes once they witnessed efforts to bend law enforcement to political goals.
In 2023, CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf identified more than two dozen Cabinet members, senior officials, and Republican allies who turned against Trump. That pattern has only intensified as Trump has pushed the DOJ to advance his personal agenda—an effort that reached a climax when prosecutors brought charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James at Trump’s insistence.
A growing pattern of resignations and removals
Trump’s pressure campaign on the Justice Department has triggered an exodus of prosecutors—both career officials and conservative attorneys handpicked by Trump himself. Significant turmoil has taken place in some of the nation’s most important federal districts, often responsible for sensitive political or national security cases.
Here’s a look at the key departures.
Eastern District of Virginia
In the most visible case, Trump ousted U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert after Siebert pushed back against Trump’s demand to prosecute Letitia James. Ironically, Trump had nominated Siebert just four months earlier, based on recommendations from Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office. Despite being aligned politically, Siebert resisted being used as a political tool.
Siebert was replaced with Lindsey Halligan, a Trump loyalist with limited federal courtroom experience. Halligan has since brought indictments against both Comey and James, fulfilling Trump’s demands.
The housecleaning didn’t stop there. Maggie Cleary, another well-regarded conservative attorney and early favorite to lead the office, was also dismissed after siding with career prosecutors who opposed charging Comey. Cleary herself had once argued she was targeted by a politically motivated smear—a claim that aligned with Trump’s rhetoric about a “weaponized” DOJ.
Two senior career prosecutors were also fired:
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Michael Ben’Ary, who led a major case tied to the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan.
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Maya Song, a respected longtime federal prosecutor.
Ben’Ary left a pointed note on his office door: DOJ leaders, he wrote, were “more concerned with punishing the President’s perceived enemies than protecting national security.”
Western District of Virginia
A similar purge unfolded here. U.S. Attorney Todd Gilbert, a former Republican speaker of the Virginia House, resigned after clashing with the White House over the appointment of his deputy. Trump’s team sought to sideline Zachary Lee, a veteran prosecutor with GOP credentials going back to the George W. Bush administration, because he resisted politically motivated prosecutions. Both Gilbert and Lee are now gone.
Southern District of New York (SDNY)
This episode dates back slightly further but remains one of the most dramatic DOJ confrontations of the Trump era.
Instead of pushing for charges, Trump’s administration allegedly pressured SDNY prosecutors to drop a case—specifically, charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. According to a federal judge, the decision appeared to be part of a political deal tied to immigration policy cooperation.
The fallout was immediate. Seven prosecutors resigned within 36 hours, including:
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Danielle Sassoon, the interim U.S. attorney appointed by Trump only weeks earlier. Sassoon wrote that the orders she received violated her oath to prosecute cases “without fear or favor.”
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Hagan Scotten, a former clerk to two conservative Supreme Court justices, who wrote in a scathing letter:
“I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.”
Other high-profile departures
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Denise Cheung resigned from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office after refusing to open a politically driven investigation into a Biden administration EPA decision, saying there was “no evidentiary basis.”
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Sean P. Murphy stepped down in March, warning publicly that DOJ independence had nearly vanished under Trump:
“To maintain credibility, there has to be separation between the president and the Justice Department… and that’s nearly gone.” 
From Virginia to New York and Washington, one pattern is clear: prosecutors who resisted Trump’s efforts to weaponize the Justice Department were pushed out—no matter their qualifications, experience, or even loyalty to the Republican Party. Many of them were conservatives who supported Trump—right up until they were told to put politics above the law.