An ally of President Donald Trump resigned from the Department of Justice on Sept. 10, months after being brought in to oversee a wide-ranging probe of those who had previously investigated the president.
Joseph diGenova stepped down from a role in the department that saw him lead an investigation seeking to find out whether Trump was a victim of criminal conspiracy.
“It was an honor and privilege to serve the president and the department,” diGenova said in a statement to Reuters. He told ABC News, who first reported the story, that he handed in his resignation letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche at 3 p.m. ET.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
DiGenova joined the department in April as "counselor to the attorney
general" as a part of a 'grand conspiracy' 'investigation in the Southern District of Florida. He is a former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia under President Ronald Reagan, serving from 1983 to 1988.
Some Trump allies have expressed hopes that the probe could ensnare former Special Counsel Jack Smith, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey, who has already been charged by the Trump administration in two other cases.
DiGenova replaced Maria Medetis Long, a career federal prosecutor. She was removed after expressing doubt that there was sufficient evidence for a criminal case against Brennan, the Associated Press reported at the time, citing anonymous sources.
DiGenova aided in Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election, according to ABC News, and echoed in media appearances that Trump was the subject of politically motivated attacks.
Fox News reported, citing anonymous sources, that diGenova had lost the confidence of the White House and was sidelined before his departure.
USA TODAY has reached out to the White House for comment.
What was diGenova overseeing?
DiGenova led the probe that examined the 2017 U.S. intelligence finding that Russia sought to boost Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016, as well as more recent investigations by Smith that probed Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The investigation has so far not resulted in any criminal charges. Investigators have interviewed current and former intelligence employees. They have also sought to question FBI officials who were involved in the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago in recent weeks.
Brennan has denied wrongdoing and sued the Justice Department to force officials to preserve documents related to the investigation.
Some legal experts have questioned whether prosecutors could bring a criminal case in Florida given that much of the activity in the Russia investigation happened in Washington and Virginia. It is also unclear how investigations involving Trump that examined separate issues at different times could be included in one conspiracy.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump ally resigns from DOJ job that targeted political foes
