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Fired Virginia National Security Prosecutor Accuses DOJ Leaders of Political Purge After Comey Charges

His letter warns the removals risk weakening the office that handles sensitive terrorism cases.

Overview

  • Michael Ben’Ary, the Eastern District of Virginia’s national security chief, was fired hours after a post by Trump-aligned writer Julie Kelly speculated he resisted the James Comey case, though multiple sources say he had no role in that prosecution.
  • In a letter taped to his former office door, Ben’Ary said leadership prioritized punishing the president’s perceived enemies over public safety and called his dismissal baseless and driven by a single social media claim.
  • Another senior prosecutor, Maya Song, was removed days earlier after Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience, took over the office and secured a grand jury indictment of Comey despite a career prosecutors’ declination memo.
  • The Virginia office is a key venue for national security cases, and Ben’Ary had been leading the prosecution of Mohammad Sharifullah in the Abbey Gate bombing case, which remains scheduled for trial in December.
  • Justice Department officials declined to discuss personnel decisions as reporting described a broader wave of career-staff firings, and Comey’s arraignment in Alexandria is set for Oct. 9 with legal challenges expected.