GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt thinks Trump should remove DOJ investigators

On Sunday, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., argued that President-elect Donald Trump's first priority should be to remove Justice Department workers who worked on Trump cases.

“First and foremost, the people involved with this should be fired immediately,” Schmitt said in an interview, as The New York Post reported.

“And anybody part of this, this effort to keep President Trump off the ballot and to throw him in jail for the rest of his life because they didn’t like his politics, and who continue to cast him as a quote, unquote threat to democracy, was wrong, and so we’ll see where that goes,” Schmitt added.

As special counsel Jack Smith prepares to resign, he plans to wind down his cases against Trump, including one related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and one related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office in 2021.

Smith's Actions

Smith requested a halt in the 2020 election case from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan after Trump was anticipated to win. Chutkan granted the motion quickly.

Schmitt told moderator Kristen Welker, “[The cases] all fell apart under the weight of the law. And so I do think there needs to be accountability. I think that getting it back to crime-fighting is important, but there has to be accountability for these kinds of abuses.”

Throughout the course of the campaign this year, Trump expressed his apprehensions regarding the Justice Department and provided a detailed account of his expectations for the department in the event that he won the election.

Trump has frequently expressed his willingness to grant pardons to the more than 1,000 supporters who have been accused of crimes associated with the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021.

Agreement From Trump

He also suggested during the campaign that he would employ the Justice Department to target his political opponents, including Smith.

Trump once reposted a photo of Smith on his social media platform, Truth Social, with the statement, "He should be prosecuted for prosecutorial misconduct & election interference."

After a recent campaign rally, Trump wrote, “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long-term prison sentences. Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials.”

New AG's Backing

Schmitt also said he would back former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom Trump said he would nominate for attorney general, saying he "absolutely" would vote to confirm Bondi.

He added, “I intend to help Pam Bondi get the votes. I know her well. She’s a friend. I’ve come to respect Pam Bondi. She was a great attorney general in Florida. This is a home run by President Trump.”