The Justice Department has fired a senior national security prosecutor, the latest in a string of dismissals shaking one of the country’s most prominent U.S. attorney’s offices.
Michael Ben’Ary, who led the national security unit in the Eastern District of Virginia, was dismissed Wednesday just hours after a conservative commentator criticized his past work in the Biden administration. According to two people familiar with the matter, Ben’Ary was informed of his firing the same day right-wing activist Julie Kelly posted online that he had previously served as senior counsel to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco under President Joe Biden.
Ben’Ary’s dismissal is particularly notable given his nearly two-decade career at the department. He served under both Republican and Democratic administrations and had been overseeing the prosecution of a suspected planner of the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport, which killed 13 American service members and more than 170 Afghan civilians during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. His removal has cast uncertainty over that high-profile case.
Kelly’s post speculated — without evidence — that Ben’Ary was part of internal resistance within the office to the Justice Department’s case against former FBI Director James Comey. One person with knowledge of the matter said Ben’Ary had no involvement in the Comey prosecution.
The move deepened upheaval inside the Alexandria-based office, which in recent weeks has seen multiple senior attorneys removed under pressure from the Trump administration. Last Friday, prosecutors said Maya Song, the top deputy to former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, was also forced out. Siebert, a Trump appointee, had resigned last month after clashing with the administration over efforts to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James in a mortgage fraud investigation.
The firings have raised alarm within the department and among legal experts who see them as part of a broader effort by the administration to assert political control over federal prosecutions. Traditionally, career prosecutors remain in place across administrations even as U.S. attorneys, who are political appointees, are replaced. But under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the Justice Department has removed prosecutors involved in sensitive cases, including those tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of Trump himself.
Song’s firing came after the installation of Lindsey Halligan as the new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District. Halligan, a former Trump lawyer and White House aide with no prior experience as a federal prosecutor, assumed the role after Trump publicly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue cases against his political adversaries.
Shortly after taking office, Halligan secured an indictment against Comey on allegations he misled Congress about authorizing FBI officials to speak anonymously to reporters. Comey has denied wrongdoing and is expected to make his first court appearance next week. “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice,” he said in a statement.
The shake-up in Virginia underscores the extent to which the Justice Department, long insulated from overt political influence, has been roiled by internal purges under Trump. Critics warn that the removals threaten the independence of career prosecutors and could undermine public confidence in the rule of law.
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This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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