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Joe diGenova, the Trump-allied attorney who has been overseeing the Justice Department’s “grand conspiracy” investigation into Obama- and Biden-era officials, has resigned. His resignation letter reached Todd Blanche on a Thursday afternoon, one day after a tense phone call between the two men, according to one cable network’s exclusive reporting on the departure. After roughly a year of investigative activity and dozens of subpoenas, the Florida-based investigation has produced no criminal charges against anyone.
Key facts
- Who: Joe diGenova, the attorney who led the DOJ (Department of Justice)’s “grand conspiracy” investigation
- What: Resigned; his letter reached Todd Blanche on a Thursday afternoon
- Result so far: No criminal charges after roughly a year and dozens of subpoenas
- Also departed: His wife, attorney Victoria Toensing, left the next day, Friday, September 11, 2026
- Where: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, in Fort Pierce
- What’s next: The probe continues under U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones; no successor named specifically for diGenova’s role
Background of the investigation
diGenova personally led the investigation for only its final stretch. He took over in April 2026 — about five months before he resigned — after career prosecutor Maria Medetis Long was removed from the case, and the year-long run of subpoenas behind the investigation had already been underway before he arrived. The probe is run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Pierce. It examines whether Obama- and Biden-era officials and intelligence officials conspired to keep Donald Trump out of political office, covering ground from the 2016 Russia-interference inquiry through the Jan. 6 Capitol riot prosecutions and the Mar-a-Lago classified-documents case.
Just how much subpoena activity that year produced is itself disputed: some outlets have described “dozens” of subpoenas, while others have put the total above 130; the department has not confirmed either figure.
What led to the split
CNN, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported that the final clash between diGenova and DOJ leadership centered on two disputes:
- Blocking Washington lawyers: diGenova tried to prevent Washington-based Justice Department lawyers from assisting the investigation.
- The SCIF (secure facility for classified material) dispute: A separate disagreement over building a secure facility (a SCIF) for handling classified material at the Fort Pierce office. Department officials instead directed the team to use an existing FBI-office SCIF elsewhere and denied that resources were being withheld from the investigation.
Other outlets have reported broader frustration over the pace of the probe without confirming those specific details, which so far rest on that single network’s account alone.
A related investigation into Brennan
A related, separate line of inquiry examines whether former CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) Director John Brennan lied to Congress about the January 2017 intelligence assessment on Russian election interference. Brennan’s lawyers say he has been told he is a target of that investigation; he denies wrongdoing and sued the Justice Department in July 2026 seeking preservation of investigative records, saying he plans to challenge any eventual indictment as vindictive or selective prosecution. Former FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Director James Comey and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page have also been subpoenaed in connected proceedings. None of the three has been charged with anything.
Conflicting accounts of the resignation
diGenova has given two accounts of his own that day that don’t fully line up.
- To the New York Post, hours after resigning: “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem.”
- Later the same day, to the Associated Press, he said the remark had been taken out of context: “There’s plenty of evidence in all of these cases to prove the theories of prosecution. It just takes time to get there, and some people want to get there a little faster than others.” He also told the AP plainly, “I did in fact resign,” framing the departure as his own decision.
NBC News, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that Justice Department officials had already lost confidence in his leadership and in the investigation’s pace before he stepped down. Fox News, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported he had also lost the confidence of the White House and had effectively been sidelined in the weeks before his resignation.
Official reactions
In an on-record statement to CBS News, diGenova said only: “It was an honor and a privilege to serve the president and the department.” A Justice Department spokesperson added a brief, on-message statement, thanking him for “his many years of service” and for his roughly five months leading the Fort Pierce team. The spokesperson separately praised the “experienced prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida,” led by U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones.
What happens next
No new leader has been named specifically to replace diGenova. Justice Department officials say the investigation will continue under the Southern District of Florida’s existing team, led by Quiñones, the district’s Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney whom officials say they always intended to have overseeing the probe. No public statement from Trump or the White House was identified in the reporting reviewed.