Two top Justice Department officials step down after midterm shake-up
November 7, 2026 · 2:30 a.m. Central / 3:30 a.m. Eastern
Two senior Justice Department officials—including the federal prosecutor overseeing the Trump administration’s sprawling “grand conspiracy” investigation in South Florida—abruptly resigned Friday, deepening a wave of high-level departures days after Democrats swept the midterm elections.
Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed Friday that Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John Eisenberg, the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division, both submitted their resignations. Their exits follow the departure earlier this week of Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon, marking three major leadership vacancies at the department in less than 48 hours.
While the Justice Department’s formal announcements offered standard praise for both officials’ service, multiple people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post, CBS News, and NBC News that Reding Quiñones left amid escalating frustration from Washington leadership over the troubled state of his office’s most politically sensitive assignment.
Inside the stalled ‘grand conspiracy’ probe in Miami
Reding Quiñones’ Miami-based office had been tasked with leading an expansive criminal inquiry into former Obama- and Biden-era intelligence and law enforcement officials whom President Donald Trump accused of conspiring to undermine his 2016 campaign and first administration.
According to current and former federal officials cited by CBS News and the Miami Herald, the investigation has been bogged down for months by internal disagreements over legal theories, missed grand jury targets, and skepticism from career prosecutors regarding whether the evidence could support federal conspiracy charges or survive statute-of-limitations challenges. Two outside Trump allies who had previously advised on related investigative efforts, Joe diGenova and Kurt Olsen, had already exited earlier this year.
With Democrats projected to take control of both the House and Senate in January 2027, incoming committee chairs have signaled plans to subpoena Justice Department records regarding politically sensitive investigations. Former federal prosecutors noted that senior political appointees who leave before the new Congress convenes may still face congressional testimony requests, though they no longer control departmental responses.
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