Prosecutor brought in to lead investigation of Trump foes tells AP that he has resigned his position
WASHINGTON (AP) — An ally of President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has resigned from his post leading a Justice Department investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president.
“I did in fact resign,” Joe diGenova told The Associated Press, calling it an “honor and a privilege” to serve Trump and the Justice Department.
The departure came just five months after he was hired to oversee a criminal inquiry targeting former government officials who have investigation Trump over the last decade, including in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Though diGenova declined to comment on the circumstances of his resignation, a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss a personnel decision said the departure came amid mounting frustration from the Justice Department and White House over the pace of the probe.
The departure injects instant tumult into an investigation that since its start a year ago had been loosely defined but had shown recent signs of activity with new subpoenas demanding testimony before a federal grand jury in Florida, where the investigation has been based.
The 81-year-old diGenova served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration and for years has been a close Trump ally, including backing his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and publicly and repeatedly claiming that the president was the victim of an intelligence community conspiracy.
He was brought back to the Justice Department in April and given responsibility for an investigation aimed at trying to prove a conspiracy that violated Trump's rights.
Five months later, no charges have been brought and it remains unclear whether any will be, or what information has been gathered to support any basis for the idea of a plot against Trump by the government officials who investigated him.
The Florida investigation has focused intensely on one of Trump's chief grievances: a U.S. intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered on his behalf in the 2016 presidential election, a conclusion the president and some of his supporters have long decried as a “deep state” plot to undermine the legitimacy of his win.
He was also shadowed throughout much of his first term by a Justice Department special counsel investigation that found that Russia had interfered in sweeping fashion to help get Trump elected, through the inquiry did not find evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and his campaign. Multiple government investigations, including by the Justice Department inspector general, have identified significant errors and omissions in the FBI's handling of the Trump-Russia probe but did not find evidence of criminal conduct by senior law enforcement officials.
The yearlong conspiracy investigation had proceeded in fits and starts well before the appointment of diGenova, who was sworn in days after a career national security prosecutor in Florida who had been playing a key role in the inquiry was replaced on the team after raising doubts about it.
Subpoenas that were were issued last spring by a Washington grand jury as the Justice Department investigated whether former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress about the creation of the intelligence community assessment were swiftly withdrawn in favor of voluntary interviews. Brennan and his lawyers have consistently denied any allegations of wrongdoing, and sued the Trump administration over the probe in July.
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