Prosecutor overseeing Trump cases abruptly resigns, leaving two Justice Department initiatives without leaders

Jason Reding Quiñones, the top federal prosecutor in Miami, has resigned. As U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, he oversaw previous criminal investigations into President Donald Trump and played a central role in his administration’s efforts to review closed criminal cases against Trump.

According to Reuters, his departure was confirmed on Friday by Attorney General Todd Blanche. The reasons for the decision have not been made public. In a statement on X, Quiñones announced that his resignation had taken effect that same Friday, describing his service in the role as an honor.

This is the second departure of a senior Justice Department official since Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republicans lost control of Congress. On Thursday, a day before Quiñones, Harmeet Dhillon, head of the civil rights division, also submitted her resignation.

The two resignations have left two of the Justice Department’s main initiatives without leaders: the review of previous investigations and an initiative related to higher education.

Reuters reports that Quiñones’s office had been tasked with investigating how two major investigations were conducted. One concerned Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021, while the other focused on his campaign’s contacts with Russia during the 2016 election. According to the agency, these efforts have so far produced no results.

As part of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Cuba, the office led by Quiñones had also brought criminal charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro.