Trump’s top prosecutor in DC demotes several supervisors who handled politically sensitive cases

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This article was published 28/02/2025 (223 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several senior leaders in Washington’s federal prosecutors office have been demoted to jobs handling misdemeanors or other low-level matters, in the latest move by President Donald Trump’s U.S. attorney to roil the office that oversaw the massive prosecution of the U.S. Capitol attack, three people familiar with the matter said Friday.

Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin’s move to reassign at least seven of the most senior and experienced prosecutors has shocked lawyers in the office, which was already shaken by the firings of a slew of lawyers who handled Jan. 6 cases. Among those being reassigned include several prosecutors who handled or oversaw politically sensitive cases involving the Jan. 6 riot and Trump allies Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon.

The prosecutors were informed in an email that they were being reassigned to work on misdemeanor cases or moved to the Early Case Assessment Section, which evaluates new cases and handles early court proceedings, like arraignments in Superior Court.

“Let me be clear: this change is not temporary,” Martin told attorneys being moved to misdemeanor cases, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Martin said “misdemeanors does important work and needs assistance.”

A spokesperson for the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear who would replace the supervisors being reassigned.

Those demoted include Greg Rosen, who was chief of the Capitol siege section, which prosecuted the cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, three people familiar with the matter said. Others include two lawyers who helped secure seditious conspiracy convictions against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the personnel moves.

Another supervisor targeted was John Crabb, a longtime fixture in the office who participated over the years in multiple high-profile case, including the prosecution arising from the attack on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi and more recently cases against Navarro and Bannon.

Also demoted was Elizabeth Aloi, chief of the public corruption and civil rights unit, who prosecuted Navarro on contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into Jan. 6 attack.

Martin, a conservative activist who echoed Trump’s bogus 2020 election fraud claims, has upended the office since his appointment last month as interim U.S. attorney. He has described federal prosecutors as the “president’s lawyers” and forced the chief of the office’s criminal division to resign after a dispute over a directive that she scrutinize the awarding of a government contract during the Biden administration.

Trump announced earlier this month that he was nominating Martin to the post, which will require Senate confirmation. Trump said Martin “has been doing a great job as Interim U.S. Attorney, fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation’s Capital Safe and Beautiful Again.”