Joe diGenova left his post after five months without bringing a single case, but the investigation he helped lead is pressing ahead with subpoenas and expected grand jury testimony in Fort Pierce, Florida, according to a report adapted from the Associated Press and published by Headline USA.
After diGenova’s exit, subpoenas head to Fort Pierce
The AP‑adapted report says Justice Department officials are continuing the probe despite diGenova’s departure, with several former law‑enforcement and intelligence officials expected to appear before a grand jury in the coming weeks in the home court of Trump‑appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
Whether anyone will ultimately be charged “remains an open question,” the outlet reported.
How the shake‑up unfolded
DiGenova, 81, a onetime top prosecutor in the Reagan administration, was appointed in April after Pam Bondi stepped down as attorney general, the report said. It added that Attorney General Todd Blanche publicly welcomed him—posting, “Welcome to the fight, Joe!”—before diGenova’s Sept. 10 departure amid Trump‑administration frustration with the probe’s pace and management.
Before joining the effort, diGenova had criticized the lack of indictments. After leaving, he told the New York Post, “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem.” He later told the Associated Press that remark was taken out of context, adding: “There’s plenty of evidence in all of these cases to prove the theories of prosecution. It just takes time to get there, and some people want to get there a little faster than others — and you can’t do that.”
What investigators are examining
The report says investigators have focused on the origins of the Trump–Russia inquiry, including preparation of the intelligence community’s assessment and the “Steele dossier.” Subpoenas have gone to a range of former FBI and intelligence officials, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, with Brennan summoned to appear before a grand jury on Oct. 15, according to the outlet. Lawyers for Brennan said prosecutors are examining whether he misled Congress; Brennan and his attorneys deny that allegation.
The Justice Department has also sought interviews with officials involved in the FBI’s 2022 search for classified documents at Mar‑a‑Lago, the report said. That search preceded an indictment of Donald Trump that was later dismissed by Judge Cannon; the Fort Pierce court is described as the venue where the department anchored this probe.
Internal turmoil and competing claims
According to the AP‑adapted account, diGenova was sworn in days after career national‑security prosecutor Maria Medetis Long was removed from the team following her concerns about an investigation into Brennan.
Ken Wainstein, an attorney for Brennan, pointed to departures as proof that prosecutors who were unpersuaded by the evidence were pushed aside by a department angling for indictments. “I’ve spent decades in and around the Justice Department. I’ve never even conceived of a situation like this,” Wainstein said, alleging the department was “blatantly trying to frame somebody for a crime that is complete fiction.”
The outlet reported that no replacement for diGenova has been announced, but prosecutors and agents remain on the case, including Kurt Olsen, who unsuccessfully urged the department in 2020 to back Trump’s election‑fraud allegations.
Backdrop and stakes
The report recounts that, after controversy over the handling of Jeffrey Epstein files last year, officials announced a new investigation and a directive from Bondi to present evidence to a grand jury.
It also cites the 2019 Justice Department special counsel report, which described extensive Russian interference in the 2016 election but found insufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy with the Trump campaign. Subsequent inspector‑general and department reviews identified FBI errors but found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by senior law‑enforcement officials nor proof of an anti‑Trump conspiracy, the outlet said.
Despite the turmoil, former U.S. attorney John Fishwick Jr. told the outlet there’s little reason to expect the department to back down under political pressure: “President Trump wants action in certain cases, and this seems to be one of them.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press, via Headline USA.
