At least eight senior federal prosecutors who worked on the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot cases have been demoted to entry-level jobs, according to multiple sources and memos obtained by CNN.

The unprecedented moves by Ed Martin, the acting US attorney in Washington, DC, are seen as retaliation by the Donald Trump loyalist as a way to force the prosecutors to resign, sources say.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” a former prosecutor said. “It is inconceivable.”

The demotions include leaders and experienced members of the Federal Major Crimes division and the Fraud, Public Corruption and Civil Rights division.

“Let me be clear: this change is not temporary,” Martin wrote in a memo obtained by CNN.