Joseph diGenova, the former Reagan-era prosecutor hired only several months before, resigned Thursday as the prosecutor leading the Justice Department investigation into an alleged conspiracy against President Donald Trump.
“I resigned today at 3 p.m. I said it had been a privilege and an honor to serve the president,” diGenova told the Washington Examiner. He was hired on April 20 to be Counselor to the Attorney General, a rare but high-ranking post that gave him close access to Attorney General Todd Blanche and the White House.
Since April, diGenova worked directly with the office of U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones and his staff. He came to the DOJ only months after a grand jury had been empaneled in South Florida, which the Washington Examiner previously reported in October was potentially related to the sweeping conspiracy case.
Asked whether problems with any of his colleagues prompted his departure, diGenova said, “Conducting investigations is arduous work and there are always differences of opinions.”
But a source familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner the differences were more stark, and that White House and Justice Department officials had lost confidence in diGenova’s management and leadership of the investigation.
Some of the factors behind that assessment included his progress on the case and other conduct unrelated to his official work, the source said, expressing confidence in the investigation’s prospects following his departure.
“We feel good moving forward,” the source said, describing the resignation as “not a bad thing.”
Asked whether diGenova had been helpful in the investigation’s initial stages, the source said “No.”
DiGenova, 81, served as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia during President Ronald Reagan’s administration and has long been a Trump ally.
His abrupt departure comes roughly five months after he was brought in to oversee the inquiry into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials violated Trump’s rights through investigations spanning the past decade.
The Florida-based investigation has operated under a shroud, but is largely believed to be examining whether former government officials engaged in a broader conspiracy against the rights of Trump. Bringing charges against former Obama-era officials would be time-barred by the statute of limitations, but a conspiracy case allows prosecutors to bypass those limitations if they can allege a conspiracy has occurred recently or is still ongoing.
More specifically, the investigation is believed to be examining possible links between the origin point of the Trump-Russia investigation that spanned his first term, and whether officials again conspired to perpetuate the conspiracy with the two federal indictments he faced prior to his 2024 reelection. No charges have been brought, and whether it will yield any results remains entirely unclear.
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However, the investigation has not given any signs of winding down. Last week, the Associated Press reported that the DOJ was seeking testimony from multiple former officials, in addition to the already-subpoenaed officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, and their former boss, James Comey.
Asked by the Washington Examiner whether the work would continue after his departure, diGenova said, “I assume so.” He also praised the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quiñones, calling him “a fine U.S. attorney.”