US prosecutor leading investigation into Trump opponents resigns

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. prosecutor who had been supervising a broad-ranging inquiry into earlier investigations of President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday that he had stepped down.

Joseph diGenova’s exit creates uncertainty for an investigation that has been examining multiple adversaries of Trump and has aimed to demonstrate that the president was the target of a protracted criminal conspiracy. DiGenova, an ally of Trump, joined the Justice Department in April to lead the Florida-based inquiry.

“It was an honor and privilege to serve the president and the department,” DiGenova said. He declined to elaborate further.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ABC News was first to report his resignation.

The probe has looked at the 2017 U.S. intelligence conclusion that Russia tried to aid Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016, along with more recent inquiries by former Special Counsel Jack Smith into Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

So far, the investigation has not led to any criminal charges. Investigators have spoken with current and former intelligence employees, and in recent weeks have tried to question FBI officials who took part in the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.

DiGenova, who served as U.S. Attorney in Washington under Republican President Ronald Reagan, has sided with Trump in recent years. He has repeated the president’s assertions that the Russia investigation was a politically driven attempt to harm Trump.

The investigation is part of a broader Justice Department effort to target those the president regards as enemies and to examine his grievances. Some Trump allies have said they hope the probe could reach Smith, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey, who has already been charged by the Trump administration in two other cases.

DiGenova assumed control of the investigation after the Justice Department removed a career federal prosecutor who had been leading it, a probe that initially centered largely on congressional testimony from Brennan regarding the 2017 intelligence assessment.

Brennan has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers have filed suit against the Justice Department to compel officials to preserve documents tied to the investigation.

Any charges arising from the investigation could confront legal obstacles. Some legal experts have questioned whether prosecutors could file a criminal case in Florida, since much of the activity in the Russia investigation occurred in Washington and Virginia.

It also remains unclear how investigations involving Trump that examined different issues at separate times could be folded into a single conspiracy.