Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Sep 12: Longtime Donald Trump ally and former US attorney Joe diGenova has resigned from his position leading a Department of Justice investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president.

DiGenova, 81, confirmed his departure but declined to provide a specific reason. His resignation has injected fresh uncertainty into an investigation targeting former government officials involved in inquiries into Trump over the past decade.

"Sometimes people want things done faster and that's all you can do," diGenova said, appearing to refer to concerns among some Trump supporters that the cases were not progressing quickly enough.

He said building strong criminal cases takes time and added that prosecutors have to work within the circumstances they face.

The Florida-based investigation has been underway for about a year and has focused on former officials involved in investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

The inquiry had proceeded intermittently, with its precise scope remaining loosely defined. However, it had recently shown signs of renewed activity, including new subpoenas seeking testimony before a federal grand jury.

The investigation is politically sensitive because pursuing alleged wrongdoing by officials involved in previous investigations of Trump has been a major priority for the president and his supporters.

DiGenova declined to comment on whether indictments were being considered.

"I'm not going to make any comments about indictments or anything else," he said, adding that prosecutors need time to build cases and that the process does not always produce the desired outcome.

The Department of Justice said it was grateful to diGenova for his years of service and thanked him for working over the past five months with prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida, led by US Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones.

DiGenova was brought back into the Justice Department in April after asking then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to appoint him to the investigation. He had repeatedly argued that Trump was the victim of a conspiracy involving the intelligence community.

Before his return to the department, diGenova had served as US attorney for the District of Columbia during the Reagan administration. During Trump's first administration, he was also a legal adviser to conservative journalist John Solomon, who later played an official role in White House efforts concerning allegations of a conspiracy against Trump.

In an interview with the New York Post following criticism of his handling of the investigation, diGenova defended the pace of the inquiry, saying prosecutors should not pursue indictments without evidence.

Five months after his appointment, however, no charges had been brought, and it remained unclear whether the investigation would result in prosecutions or what evidence had been gathered to support allegations of a government conspiracy against Trump.

A major focus of the investigation has been the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to benefit Trump.

Trump and some of his supporters have repeatedly rejected that conclusion as part of what they describe as a "deep state" effort to undermine the legitimacy of his election victory.

Multiple government investigations, including a Justice Department special counsel investigation and an inquiry by the department's inspector general, have concluded that Russia interfered in the election in an effort to help Trump.

The investigation had already faced disruption before diGenova's appointment. His selection came shortly after a career national security prosecutor who had played a key role in the inquiry was removed after raising concerns about its legal viability.

DiGenova's resignation is therefore likely to bring renewed scrutiny to the direction, pace and future of the politically charged investigation.