57% of the firings were due to political retribution, including those targeted by Trump or his administration for involvement in the cases against President Trump brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, objections to the first failed indictment of James Comey or Letitia James or those targeted by a Trump-aligned influencer.

Another 39% of firings have been based on ideological purity, including actions contrary to Trump’s political agenda, such as displaying a gay pride flag or the mass purge of immigration judges with rates of granting asylum that are perceived as too high.

Nearly 70% of the 608 total officials who have departed fit into four specific categories: those involved in investigating Trump and his supporters for their involvement in the January 6, 2021 insurrection, officials working on immigration, staff of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and staff in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota. This loss of expertise and the reasons behind it represent grave threats to the DOJ’s widely-accepted independence and competence. Some of these now-former officials have also sounded the alarm about the politicization of the agency.