Three senior figures at the US Department of Justice have resigned within two days, including the federal prosecutor responsible for overseeing a controversial investigation into alleged wrongdoing by officials who previously investigated Donald Trump.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, left his position on Friday 6 November 2026. Attorney General Todd Blanche also confirmed the departure of John Eisenberg, who headed the department’s National Security Division. Their announcements followed the resignation of Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon on Thursday.
The timing comes just days after Republicans suffered major losses in the US midterm elections. However, the department has not said that the election results caused either Friday resignation, and it would be premature to treat the departures as proof of an election-related crisis.
Who has resigned?
- Jason Reding Quiñones: The senior federal prosecutor in South Florida. His office was overseeing what officials have called the ‘grand conspiracy’ inquiry into past investigations of Trump. His resignation took effect on Friday.
- John Eisenberg: The assistant attorney general responsible for national security cases, including espionage and terrorism. Blanche also announced his resignation on Friday.
- Harmeet Dhillon: The head of the Civil Rights Division, who announced her departure on Thursday. Dhillon said she had decided in October to return to private practice, before the midterm election.
Blanche publicly thanked Quiñones for his work tackling violent crime, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and transnational crime. In his own statement, Quiñones thanked Trump and described his public service as an honour. Neither statement gave a reason for the resignation.
What is the ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation?
The investigation was designed to examine a theory that former law enforcement, intelligence and government officials conspired over a period of years to undermine Trump, including through investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the handling of classified documents. Those are allegations being investigated, not established findings of criminal wrongdoing.
The inquiry has sought evidence from a wide group of former officials. In March, Axios reported, citing two people familiar with the case, that investigators had issued more than 130 subpoenas. That number is a reported figure, not a publicly verified court tally, and issuing a subpoena does not imply that the recipient has committed a crime.
Despite extensive activity, the overarching conspiracy theory has not resulted in criminal charges. That does not mean every subsidiary allegation has been conclusively disproved or that the wider investigation has officially ended.
Why has the investigation run into difficulties?
The Associated Press, CBS News and The Washington Post have reported staffing disputes, turnover among prosecutors and postponed grand jury appearances.
Joseph diGenova, a lawyer assigned a leading role in the inquiry, departed in September. Other lawyers previously associated with the case have also left or been reassigned. Some grand jury testimony has reportedly been pushed into 2027.
The Associated Press reported that officials in Washington had become frustrated with aspects of Quiñones’s management of the investigation, citing people familiar with the matter. This is attributed reporting, rather than a publicly stated explanation from Quiñones or Blanche.
Were the resignations caused by the midterm elections?
That has not been established. The departures occurred after the election, but a sequence of events does not by itself demonstrate a cause. Reuters reported that the reasons for the resignations of Quiñones and Eisenberg were unclear. Dhillon has said she decided to leave weeks earlier.
Departures and reshuffles after an election are not automatically unusual. The political context is nevertheless significant because Democrats have pledged more congressional scrutiny of the Trump administration and its use of the Justice Department.
What happens next?
The immediate questions are who will replace the departing officials and who will supervise the ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation. No official announcement reviewed for this report establishes that the inquiry has been cancelled or that an indictment is imminent.
Blanche said in late October that the department intended to allow the investigation to continue. That statement came before Quiñones left and does not settle what will happen after his resignation.
The confirmed story is therefore one of three senior departures, an investigation facing visible difficulties and uncertainty about its future. Claims that prosecutors are leaving specifically because of Trump’s election setback, or that the investigation has collapsed, go beyond the evidence currently available.
Sources
- Attorney General Todd Blanche, statement on Quiñones, 6 November 2026
- Attorney General Todd Blanche, statement on Eisenberg, 6 November 2026
- Associated Press, DOJ resignations and investigation, 6 November 2026
- Reuters, Quiñones resignation, 6 November 2026
- Axios, reported subpoenas, 19 March 2026
- CBS News, investigation staff disputes and departures, 6 November 2026
