New reporting gives additional insight into the abrupt resignation of Joe diGenova, the Washington lawyer leading the South Florida-based investigation into President Donald Trump’s political enemies.
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DiGenova resigned Thursday, one day after a tense phone call with Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to two people familiar with the matter, CNN reported.
The immediate trigger was diGenova’s effort to block lawyers sent by Justice Department headquarters from assisting the probe, following broader friction with top DOJ officials over the investigation’s pace.
Two people familiar with the matter told CNN the tensions had been building for weeks, fueled partly by diGenova’s request that a high-security SCIF be built at the team’s Fort Pierce office to store the most highly classified materials.
The team currently works out of an office with a room for handling sensitive — but not top-secret — evidence, and DOJ officials instead directed diGenova to use a SCIF at an FBI office miles away. DiGenova had also pushed for additional lawyers, though two Justice Department officials disputed any suggestion he’d been denied resources.
DiGenova’s departure came on a busy day for the probe, with investigators presenting a witness to a grand jury, a person familiar with the matter said.
His exit could further slow an investigation that has already missed internal deadlines. DOJ officials had recently hoped for the first charges as soon as this month. Despite the disruption, a U.S. law enforcement official said Justice Department officials feel confident in the remaining team and expect momentum to pick up.
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DiGenova declined to comment beyond remarks he made to CNN last week, saying he builds cases “the old fashioned way: witnesses, evidence, etc. That takes time.”
Even amid the internal discord, investigative activity had intensified in recent weeks.
A grand jury subpoena went out last week seeking testimony from former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and another summoned lawyer Dan Richman, a close contact of former FBI Director James Comey during the 2016 Russia investigation.
A former supervisor on that investigation sat for a multi-hour interview after being granted immunity, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Investigators have also questioned lower-level former CIA and intelligence officials about the intelligence community’s 2016 election assessment and former CIA director John Brennan’s leadership.
In a sign the inquiry’s timeline may be creeping forward, at least one witness recently received outreach from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida specifically about the 2023 Mar-a-Lago search — bringing the probe’s questions closer to the present day, sources told CNN.
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