Abrupt firings, senior officials demoted, and career employees left reeling -- US President Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to a Justice Department he accuses of unjustly prosecuting him. Across the Justice Department a number of high-ranking officials have been demoted or reassigned in moves by the new administration that have unsettled career employees.

The abrupt action targeting career prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team is the latest sign of upheaval inside the Justice Department. It reflects the administration’s determination to purge the government of workers it perceives as disloyal to the president.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought two criminal cases against Trump, resigned before the Republican could fulfil his campaign pledge to fire him, but more than a dozen members of his team were sacked on Monday.