President Trump has sought to control the Justice Department to pursue his political enemies.

Justice Department veterans see an overarching pattern in the dismissals — a quickening effort by the Trump administration to ignore and eventually demolish longstanding civil service legal precedents meant to keep politics out of law enforcement work.

George Clooney as Edward R. Murrow in the stage production of “Good Night, and Good Luck.” The play, about CBS and political pressure in the 1950s, is running as the network faces it again.

Ed Martin has used his authority to upend the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, as well as dismantle and delegitimize the Jan. 6 inquiry.