Will Trump's January 6th pardons backfire?

(CNN) — More than a dozen officials who worked on the criminal investigations into Donald Trump have been fired, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A letter from acting Attorney General James McHenry to the officials said they cannot be “trusted” to “faithfully” implement Trump’s agenda.

“You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. The proper functioning of government critically depends on the trust superior officials place in their subordinates,” McHenry wrote. “Given your significant role in prosecuting the President, I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.”

The firings come as the the Trump administration is taking concrete steps to investigate prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against January 6 defendants after Trump vowed to seek retribution as a key pledge of his campaign, according to multiple sources who have seen an internal memo on the matter.

Ed Martin, the interim US attorney in Washington, DC, has launched an investigation into prosecutors who brought obstruction charges under US Code 1512(c) against some rioters that were ultimately tossed because of a Supreme Court decision last summer.

Referring to the effort as a “special project,” Martin wrote in the memo issued Monday that the attorneys should hand over “all information you have related to the use of 1512 charges, including all files, documents, notes, emails, and other information” to two of the office’s long-term prosecutors who must submit a report on the probe by Friday.

“Obviously the use was a great failure of our office – s. ct. decision – and we need to get to the bottom of it,” the memo reads, referencing the June Supreme Court ruling that limited the power of federal prosecutors to pursue obstruction charges against the January 6 rioters.

The demand for documents also extends to prosecutors who have since left the US attorney’s office.

The move comes as the Justice Department has already seen a dramatic shakeup as officials connected to high-profile investigations have been reassigned, including the now-dismissed case against Trump himself for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases told CNN that the memo raises concerns that Trump’s DOJ is beginning to “investigate the investigators,” as he’s long threatened. One person who worked on Capitol riot cases told CNN that prosecutors don’t know whether this investigation is looking to bring criminal or civil charges, and that some are starting to hire their own lawyers for their defense.

A senior administration official familiar with the Martin email describes this as a “fact-finding” mission, noting a “huge waste of resources.“

“The prior office screwed up by filing hundreds of cases that ended up getting thrown out by the Supreme Court, it is worth getting to the bottom of poor decision making,” the person said.

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

Martin, a hardline, socially conservative activist and commentator who was an was an organizer with the “Stop the Steal” movement, was tapped for the role last week. Since starting the job, he has praised Trump for issuing mass pardons for January 6 defendants.

He also successfully lobbied a judge to toss out travel restrictions imposed on members of the Oath Keepers after they were released from prison, saying: “If a judge decided that Jim Biden, General Mark Milley, or another individual were forbidden to visit America’s capital — even after receiving a last-minute, preemptive pardon from the former President — I believe most Americans would object. The individuals referenced in our motion have had their sentences commuted – period, end of sentence.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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