Joe diGenova, an 81-year-old ally of Donald Trump, resigned from his post leading a Department of Justice investigation into alleged conspiracy against the president. DiGenova declined to comment on why he left, but hinted at internal dissent and disagreement over the cases, stating "it takes time" to make good cases. The investigation, which has been ongoing for a year, has shown little progress with no charges brought against former government officials accused of conspiring against Trump. DiGenova's comments suggest that some within the justice department may be frustrated with the slow pace of the inquiry.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Joe diGenova, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, has resigned from leading an investigation into whether former government officials conspired against the Republican president. DiGenova was appointed by Attorney General Todd Blanche in April to oversee the investigation, which is looking into allegations related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The investigation has been criticized for moving slowly, with some Trump loyalists expressing frustration that no charges have been brought despite five months of work. DiGenova resigned on Thursday, citing the need to "do the best you can under the circumstances" and acknowledging that building good cases takes time. His departure comes just days after lawyers representing witnesses in the investigation received emails about grand jury subpoenas, and his wife Victoria Toensing, who also worked with the team, will be leaving the Justice Department on Friday.
Written for “Trump Investigation Resignations” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 1 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
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Leaning score withheld for article 7966: attributed speech only · logged 2026-09-11
A longtime ally of Donald Trump resigned from his post leading a Department of Justice investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president.
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officials → resign → president
“Sometimes people want things done faster and that’s all you can do,” Joe diGenova said on Thursday.
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diGenova → want → Thursday
He appeared to be referring to concerns among other Trump loyalists that the president’s retribution cases were not moving quickly enough.
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cases → appear → loyalists
“The bottom line is it takes a long time to make good cases, and you simply have to work at it,” he added.
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he → take → it
“All you can do is do the best you can under the circumstances.
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you → do → circumstances
The departure injects instant tumult into an investigation targeting former government officials who have investigated Trump over the last decade, including in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
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who → inject → Beach
The Florida-based investigation has proceeded in fits and starts since its inception a year ago, with its contours loosely defined, though it had shown recent signs of activity with new subpoenas demanding testimony before a federal grand jury.
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it → base → jury
While retribution by the justice department against Trump’s perceived adversaries has been one of the president’s highest priorities, diGenova’s comments hint at internal dissent and disagreement over the cases.
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comments → perceive → cases
He declined to say exactly why he resigned.
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he → decline → ?
“I’m not going to make any comments about indictments or anything else,” diGenova said.
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diGenova → go → indictments
“When you’ve been a prosecutor as long as I have you know how to make cases, and it takes time.
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it → have → time
And that’s just part of the process.
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that → ’ → process
And sometimes that works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.”
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it → work → ?
During the first Trump administration, diGenova was a legal adviser to John Solomon, a conservative journalist who has played an official role in White House efforts to push the conspiracy allegations.
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who → play → allegations
In an interview later with the New York Post, diGenova responded to criticism of his management of the investigation by saying: “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem.”
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you → respond → problem
A spokesperson for the justice department did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
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spokesperson → return → comment
The 81-year-old diGenova served as the US attorney for the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration.
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diGenova → serve → administration
A close Trump ally, he was brought back to the justice department in April and given responsibility for an investigation aimed at trying to establish a conspiracy against Trump.
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he → bring → Trump
DiGenova had previously asked the then US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to appoint him to the job and had openly and repeatedly claimed Trump was the victim of an intelligence community conspiracy.
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Trump → ask → conspiracy
But five months later, no charges have been brought, and it remains unclear whether any will be, or what information has been gathered to support any basis for the idea of a plot against Trump by the government officials who investigated him.
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who → bring → him
The investigation has focused intensely on one of Trump’s chief grievances: a US intelligence community assessment that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the 2016 presidential election.
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Russia → focus → election
The president and some of his supporters have long decried that conclusion as a “deep state” plot to undermine the legitimacy of his win.
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president → decry → win
Multiple government investigations, including by a justice department special counsel and by the department’s own inspector general, have concluded that Russia interfered in sweeping fashion to help get Trump elected.
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Trump → include → fashion
The year-long investigation had proceeded in fits and starts well before diGenova’s appointment, which was announced soon after a career national security prosecutor who had been playing a key role in the investigation was replaced on the inquiry after raising doubts about its legal viability.
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who → proceed → viability
The Associated Press contributed reporting
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Press → contribute → reporting
