Kerry Johnson

Jack Smith presided over two criminal indictments of Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election and for hiding secret documents at his Florida resort.

Neither case got to a jury before Trump returned to the White House last year.

Smith says he had proof beyond a reasonable doubt in both cases and that he was not motivated by politics.

He says if he had any regrets, it was not expressing enough support for the prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on the cases.

Many of those public servants have been fired by the Trump administration.

Some have faced threats, he says, for doing their jobs.

Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

This week, Judge David Novak accused Halligan of, quote, masquerading as the U.S.

attorney for weeks after another federal judge disqualified her from the post.

Halligan had no prior experience as a prosecutor and had worked as a personal lawyer to the president.

Her effort to prosecute Trump foes Jim Comey and Letitia James ended in failure after court ruled she was improperly installed in the job.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Halligan's departure is a significant loss for the Justice Department, but that she will continue to serve the president.

The federal courts in eastern Virginia are seeking applicants to serve as the interim U.S.

attorney.

Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

President Trump dismissed watchdogs at more than a dozen federal agencies shortly after he returned to the White House last year.

Those inspectors general are responsible for policing waste, fraud and abuse and for investigating the claims of whistleblowers.

They're only supposed to be fired for cause.

But some lawmakers and nonprofit groups say Trump overrode that law and replaced the IGs with some of his own loyalists.

Now, Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, and several others are backing a new bill that would prohibit any president from nominating their own political appointees to serve in those roles.