Joe diGenova resigns from Justice Department probe

Joe diGenova, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump who was overseeing a broad Justice Department investigation into Trump’s perceived political adversaries, resigned Thursday after five months in the role.

“I did in fact resign,” diGenova told The Associated Press. In separate comments reported by NBC News and CBS News, he said, “It was an honor and a privilege to serve the president and the department.” Asked why he left, diGenova declined to comment. “I’m moving on,” he told NBC News.

CBS News reported that diGenova said he submitted his resignation letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche at 3 p.m. Thursday. He also said his wife, attorney Victoria Toensing, who had worked with the team of federal prosecutors in Fort Pierce, Florida, would leave the Justice Department on Friday. ABC News first reported diGenova’s departure.

The Justice Department declined to comment to NBC News, and did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Guardian and CBS News.

DiGenova, 81, had been leading what CBS News described as a “grand conspiracy” probe examining whether Obama- and Biden-era officials were part of a long-running effort to keep Trump out of political office. The Guardian described the inquiry as a loosely defined investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against Trump.

NBC News reported that diGenova resigned and was not fired, but that Justice Department officials had lost confidence in his leadership skills and his ability to run the investigation, citing a source familiar with the determination. DOJ leadership believed the investigation was not moving quickly enough, even though diGenova had been given a team of Justice Department lawyers from Washington, the source told NBC. For now, NBC reported, no specific replacement is expected to be named, and the investigation is expected to continue without delays.

The resignation comes as the Florida-based investigation had recently shown signs of acceleration. NBC News reported that the Justice Department is seeking testimony from multiple former officials before a federal grand jury, citing people familiar with the probes. CBS News reported that lawyers for some witnesses had recently received emails alerting them that their clients would receive grand jury subpoenas. Investigators also contacted lawyers for former FBI agents who investigated Trump’s retention of classified records to request voluntary interviews, two sources briefed on the matter told CBS.

No charges have been brought in the probes.

The investigation has revisited scrutiny of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, including the U.S. intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered on Trump’s behalf. The Guardian reported that multiple government investigations, including by a Justice Department special counsel and the department’s inspector general, concluded Russia interfered in sweeping fashion to help Trump get elected. Trump and some supporters have denounced that conclusion as a “deep state” effort to undermine his victory.

DiGenova was also overseeing a criminal probe into whether former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress in 2023 about the intelligence community’s assessment on Russian interference, CBS News reported. NBC News reported that he replaced career prosecutor Maria Medetis Long, who had objected to advancing an investigation into Brennan. CBS reported Long was removed after expressing concerns about the strength of the evidence.

DiGenova served as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration. More recently, he represented Trump’s campaign in its failed effort to overturn the 2020 election results. CBS News reported that Brennan sued earlier this year over the investigations, alleging the Trump administration had “adopted a policy of using criminal process and prosecution to punish the President’s perceived adversaries.”