A Los Angeles federal prosecutor was fired at the behest of the White House, after lawyers for a fast-food executive he was prosecuting pushed officials to drop all charges against him. Adam Schleifer was terminated Friday in an email informing him that the dismissal was “on behalf of President Donald J. Trump,” reports the Los Angeles Times. Schleifer was fired via a “one line e-mail, and it came from a White House staff account," said one source. The firing seemed to be motivated by a case Schleifer was assigned involving Andrew Wiederhorn, former chief executive of the company that owns fast-food chains Fatburger and Johnny Rockets. Last May, Wiederhorn was indicted on charges of hiring taxable income by dispersing “shareholder loans” from the company to himself and his family. Wiederhorn allegedly used the funds for personal purposes including payments for private jet travel, vacations, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, other luxury automobiles, jewelry and a piano.
Wiederhorn’s lawyers have aggressively pushed Justice Department officials to drop the case. The defense has attacked the legal theory of the case and alleged Schleifer was biased. Wiederhorn’s defense attorney, Nicola Hanna, said, “This is an unfortunate example of government overreach — and a case with no victims, no losses and no crimes” Schleifer is a registered Democrat who made unflattering remarks about Trump when he ran for an open congressional seat in New York’s 17th District in 2020. Schleifer started with the U.S. Attorney’s office in 2016. He prosecuted drug trafficking and fraud cases before quitting in 2019 for his congressional bid. He finished second in the Democratic primary and returned to his job as a federal prosecutor. Separately, the Trump administration fired U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren in Memphis, Axios reports. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said that Joe Murphy would serve as interim U.S. Attorney and that she had "worked with President Trump to ensure that Memphis' chief federal prosecutor is competent, tough-on-crime, and pro-law enforcement."