Trump DOJ ousts prosecutor who refused to go after Comey

Robert McBride, a prosecutor assigned to assist illegally-appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, has reportedly been fired after refusing to participate in the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey.

On Monday, MS NOW reported that McBride, 64, had been dismissed from his role as the No. 2 official in the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

McBride was appointed to the position last year after a federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump had illegally appointed Halligan as a U.S. Attorney. According to MS NOW, McBride told people that he felt it would be difficult for him to take on the Comey prosecution while running the Virginia office.

The report also said that Halligan discovered that McBride met with federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia, which she viewed as undermining Trump's administration. Attorney General Pam Bondi was said to have backed McBride's dismissal.

Trump's attempts to use his Justice Department to exact retribution on Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have been plagued with problems.