Trump has vowed to end the "weaponisation" of the Justice Department and has set about nominating and appointing allies to top posts in the department. Smith himself resigned from the Justice Department shortly before Trump took office, and both federal cases have effectively ended.

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.

The Trump Justice Department says it has fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal investigations into President Donald Trump