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Archive photo · 23 May 2011Jason Reding Quiñones Resigns From DOJ After Leading “Grand Conspiracy” Probe
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Jason Reding Quinones resigns as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He led a grand-conspiracy probe into Trump foes, announced by Attorney General Todd Blanche.
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DOJ probe leader quits
Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida tasked with leading a sweeping “grand conspiracy” probe into President Donald Trump’s foes, resigned from the Justice Department on Friday. Blanche also announced that John Eisenberg, the top official overseeing the Justice Department’s National Security Division, had resigned from the department, and the resignations followed Harmeet Dhillon’s Thursday departure as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The “grand conspiracy” probe was seeking to charge officials over conduct that happened more than 10 years ago, tying actions dating back to the 2016 campaign to the more recent Jack Smith investigation.
Quiñones resigned “under pressure from department leadership,” while the probe was based in Fort Pierce, Florida and used a grand jury there to pursue investigations of former government officials involved in probes of Trump and his campaign from 2016 to 2024. ABC News said the “grand conspiracy” probe launched by the DOJ to examine whether intelligence officials and other government actors organized in a criminal effort to violate President Trump’s civil rights dating back to his 2016 campaign had “thus far led to no criminal indictments.”
Blanche praises, critics push
Blanche praised Quiñones’ work in a social media post, saying, “We are grateful for Jason’s leadership in combatting violent crime, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and transnational crime,” as he announced the resignation. Quiñones thanked President Trump in a post on X, writing, “I leave with immense pride in what we accomplished together and profound gratitude for the opportunity to serve our great nation.” CBS News said the statement offered no explanation for his departure, while CBS News also described the probe as “plagued by internal disputes and doubts about its viability.”
Stacey Young, who heads the group Justice Connection, said Quiñones “will forever be known as this president’s Don Quixote for tilting at the windmill of the so-called grand conspiracy,” and Young said his “departure follows the well-tread path of others who signed up for this impossible dream.” CBS News said the probe was also separately focusing on whether former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress about the agency’s role in the creation of an intelligence assessment that determined Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
What the resignations mean
Democrats were poised to have oversight control and launch investigations after the midterms, and the resignations could be a challenge for the administration because it was expected to have trouble confirming new officials with a Democratic Senate. The president could install acting leaders to do the job for the rest of his term, while Quiñones’ departure “likely signals the end of the politically motivated investigation.” No charges had yet been brought directly in connection with the “grand conspiracy” effort, and the probe’s theory as tying actions dating back to the 2016 campaign to the more recent Jack Smith investigation.
Reding Quinones and Eisenberg were the second and third high-level DOJ officials to depart the Trump administration following Democrats’ historic midterm wins, and Reding Quinones’ departure was seen as a foregone conclusion after DOJ leadership admonished him in private meetings for his lack of progress and frequent trips to Washington, D.C. The investigation has generated extensive grand jury activity but has yet to produce charges establishing the alleged overarching conspiracy, and Quiñones’ office was involved in the classified documents prosecution of former national securioty adviser John Bolton for which Bolton pleaded guilty earlier this year.