The top federal prosecutor in South Florida, whose office oversaw the wide-ranging investigation into President Trump's alleged "grand conspiracy," has stepped down from the Justice Department, Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed on Friday.
In a post on the social platform X, Blanche announced that Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, had submitted his resignation. Blanche praised Quiñones for his work on violent crime, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and transnational crime, including the indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro.
Quiñones's departure is the second major exit from the Justice Department in the aftermath of the midterm elections. On Thursday, Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, resigned, saying she had made that decision before Election Day.
The so-called grand conspiracy probe, which examined both the criminal investigations into Trump and the 2016 review of his campaign, has been plagued by staff turnover. Trump ally Joe diGenova, who had taken over leadership of the probe, resigned in September, expressing concerns about the pace of the investigation. In an interview with the New York Post that month, diGenova suggested deeper problems, saying, "If you want indictments where there's no evidence, you have an ethical problem."
Earlier, Maria Medetis Long, a career DOJ official who played a key role in the case, had resigned in April, reportedly over worries about the strength of the evidence. Kurt Olsen, another official involved and a Trump ally from the 2020 legal efforts, left shortly after diGenova, apparently due to issues with his security clearance.
Despite issuing numerous subpoenas, the investigation had not produced any charges. Former CIA Director John Brennan, who was told he was a subject of the probe, had sued to force prosecutors to preserve records, but a federal judge dismissed the case as premature.
Quiñones did not explain his reasons for leaving in his own social media statement. He wrote that public service, from the military to the Justice Department and the bench, had been "the honor of my lifetime," and that leading the U.S. Attorney's Office in his home district was especially meaningful. He expressed pride in what was accomplished and gratitude for the opportunity.
One of the most notable cases under Quiñones's tenure was the criminal indictment of Raúl Castro, charging him with murder in connection with the 1996 shooting down of four planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, a group that searched for Cuban migrants heading to Florida.
The resignation adds to the turbulence within the Justice Department as it navigates politically sensitive investigations. For more on the broader political fallout, see the GOP leadership fight and how Democrats are planning to use congressional power to check the administration.
