WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe diGenova resigned from his position at the Justice Department on Thursday, ending his five-month tenure overseeing a probe into alleged intelligence community conspiracy against President Donald Trump. The investigation examines whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against President Donald Trump.

DiGenova submitted his resignation letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche at 3 p.m. on Thursday. A person familiar with the matter said DiGenova's departure followed frustration from the Justice Department and White House over the pace and management of the probe.

"I did in fact resign," Joe diGenova. "It was an honor and privilege to serve the president and the department," DiGenova said in a brief telephone interview. When asked why he is leaving, DiGenova stated he is "moving on."

The investigation is based in Fort Pierce, Florida, within the Southern District of Florida. It uses a grand jury in a Fort Pierce court run by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. The investigation is overseen by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones.

Former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are among the officials whose conduct is being scrutinized. The probe focuses on the U.S. intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Multiple government investigations, including by the Justice Department inspector general, identified 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.

John Brennan sued the Justice Department in July for a court order requiring the preservation of all records from the investigation. Brennan alleges the administration is using criminal process to punish the President's perceived adversaries.

Victoria Toensing, DiGenova's wife, worked with the team of federal prosecutors in Fort Pierce and is expected to depart the Justice Department. DiGenova is 81 years old and served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration from 1983 to 1988. He previously represented Trump's campaign in its effort to overturn the 2020 election results and has publicly claimed that Trump was the victim of an intelligence community conspiracy.

DiGenova stated in an interview with The New York Post, "If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem." During his time leading the probe, he advocated for broad conspiracy charges against political figures. DiGenova named former President Barack Obama as a possible target of the investigation, stating, "Put Obama in the grand jury and let’s have a fight over his testimony."

Timeline

In April 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appointed DiGenova to oversee the investigation. DiGenova replaced career prosecutor Maria Medetis Long, who had been overseeing the investigation. Maria Medetis Long was removed after raising doubts about the legal viability or strength of the evidence in the case.

DiGenova had previously asked then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to appoint him to the job. Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi in part due to complaints about the pace of investigations.

On April 2, 2026, DiGenova stated on Rudy Giuliani’s podcast, "You do the same thing with [New York Attorney General] Letitia James. You don’t charge her in Virginia on mortgage fraud. You include her on a massive conspiracy count down in Miami, with a bunch of people beginning in 2017."

What's New

Additional quotes surfaced regarding DiGenova's strategy and targets. DiGenova stated on Rudy Giuliani’s podcast in April, "If she had not done that, we would have indictments brought in the last two months."

Joseph diGenova was appointed to lead a Florida-based federal investigation into former federal officials who investigated Donald Trump, a role he took over after the departure of Maria Medetis Long, a career prosecutor who had been in charge of an investigation that had, among other things, been looking into former CIA Director John Brennan.

Why It Matters

The resignation of Joe diGenova marks a shift in the Justice Department's approach to investigating alleged conspiracies within the intelligence community. With no charges brought five months into his leadership, the departure reflects ongoing tensions between the White House's desire for swift action and the department's prosecutorial standards. The probe targets high-profile figures such as John Brennan and James Comey, making its management a subject of political and legal scrutiny.

The involvement of Victoria Toensing and the specific focus on Fort Pierce, Florida, indicate a centralized effort to consolidate these investigations. Previous removals of prosecutors who questioned the legal viability of cases suggest that leadership changes are driven by strategic disagreements over evidence and charging decisions. The outcome of this transition will determine whether the investigation accelerates toward indictments or faces further delays during internal confidence issues.