A 17-year Justice Department official is warning of a wave of retribution inside the agency. Scott MacFarlane spoke to Patty Hartman, who served as a top public affairs specialist at the FBI and federal prosecutors' offices.

Washington

Patty Hartman, who served nearly two decades at the U.S. Justice Department, was recently dismissed from her role as a public affairs specialist. Hartman is the fourth official terminated since early June, all of whom were involved in the prosecution of individuals connected to the January 6th Capitol attack. Unlike the others, Hartman was not a prosecutor but managed public communications and maintained a database of related cases, which has since been taken offline by the current administration.

Hartman expressed concern over what she describes as the disappearance of established rules and boundaries between the Justice Department and the White House. She indicated that many employees now fear for their jobs and feel unable to speak out. The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment regarding the recent dismissals. Hartman plans to pursue legal action in an effort to regain her position and advocate for her colleagues.

Fired DOJ official warns 'rules don't exist anymore'

Tonight's Justice Department veteran is speaking out after being abruptly fired this week. As CBS's Scott McFarlane reports, she is one of several officials terminated since last month all tied to the January 6th insurrection prosecutions. Patty Hartman spent nearly 20 years serving the U.S. Justice Department, a civil servant who loved the mission. I am not political. I do not serve a president or a party. I serve the American people. The mission was cut short Monday when Hartman was fired by a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi. It's hard to understand why or how it's okay to remove people from their job for doing their job. You posted that we're driving straight toward an abyss. What do you mean? The rules don't exist anymore. The laws don't seem to exist anymore. Hartman is the fourth person fired since early June who helped work the largest prosecution in American history, the prosecution of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol and beat police officers January 6th. But Hartman's case is different. She wasn't a prosecutor or an FBI agent. She was a public relations administrator, sending out her boss's news releases and helping with the content for a website and database of January 6th cases, which the Trump administration has taken offline. There used to be a line, used to be a very distinct separation between the White House and the Department of Justice because one should not interfere with the work of the other. You think that line's gone? That line is very definitely gone. The other three recently fired officials were prosecutors who helped the agency secure a perfect 100 percent conviction rate in January 6th jury trials. Days after President Trump took the oath in acting top prosecutor in D.C. fired others who'd worked Capitol riot cases. One of the reasons I want to tell my story is because I want to give voice to the people who also have lost their jobs or who are there and feel powerless to talk about what's going on in the office. Are they fearful? I think a lot of people are afraid for their jobs right now. I think there's no doubt about that. So Scott, what is the Justice Department saying about all this? We asked for comment on Patty Hartman's firing and the other recent firings and they did not respond to our request for comment. Broadly speaking, Maurice, the president, his allies have argued the January 6th prosecutions were politicization of the weaponization of the Department of Justice, that it was political. That being said, Patty Hartman is going to try to fight this, trying to take a legal action to get her job back. And hopefully, she says, send a message to the Department of Justice on behalf of her former colleagues. All right. Scott McFarlane in D.C. tonight.

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Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Israeli strike kills children near medical clinic in Gaza

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Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

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Tel Aviv-Yafo

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Camarillo

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Global Tariffs

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Center Point

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Texas

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Kuala Lumpur

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Ventura County

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Los Angeles

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San Francisco

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Moscow

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Kerr County

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Sana'a

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Marseille

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Cernadilla

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