Jason Reding Quiñones, the senior federal prosecutor who led a sprawling investigation into President Donald Trump’s political foes, has resigned from the Justice Department.
Quiñones resigned from his position as US Attorney in Southern Florida under pressure from department leadership, despite his willingness to pursue some of the most controversial investigations desired by the president, according to sources familiar with the matter.
He is the second department official to resign since the midterm elections this week, which delivered a bruising loss to the president’s own party.
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Attorney General Todd Blanche announced his departure in a social media post Friday, saying that the department is “grateful for Jason’s leadership.”
Quiñones being pushed out in Miami deals what may be the final blow to the Justice Department’s ongoing effort prosecute a wide swath of Trump’s perceived political enemies as part of a so-called “grand conspiracy.”
During his year-long tenure, Quiñones’ office won one of the most consequential criminal indictments brought by the Trump Justice Department: The indictment against former Cuban president Raúl Castro.
But other antics left him on the outs with department leadership. Quiñones was behind the effort to use a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, to pursue investigations of former government officials who were involved in probes of Trump and his campaign from 2016 to 2024.
He promised that his office could bring the case within months against former government officials who were involved in probes of Trump and his campaign from 2016 to 2024, top Justice officials blamed him when those plans failed to materialize.
And Quiñones frequently traveled outside his district, often to Washington, DC, which only reminded top DOJ officials of his failure to produce a big case he had promised.
In the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office on Friday, Blanche’s announcement came as a shock. Many were in the dark about Quiñones seeming rapid fall from grace, according to people familiar with matter.
