- Sign up HERE to our DC Insider newsletter - your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill
Published: | Updated:
asserted
what → sign → Hill
It ended in a screaming match.
asserted
It → end → match
Joe diGenova, a longtime Trump ally tapped to oversee a sprawling 'grand conspiracy' investigation in the Southern District of Florida, accused Attorney General Todd Blanche of obstructing his own department's case.
asserted
diGenova → tap → case
DiGenova was tapped by Blanche in April to probe whether US intelligence and law enforcement officials, including former President Barack Obama's CIA Director John Brennan, were part of a years-long plot against Donald Trump.
asserted
officials → tap → Trump
A source told the Daily Mail that Blanche had sent multiple individuals down from DC several weeks prior in an attempt to 'rein in' DiGenova, who in turn accused Blanche of obstructing the probe.
asserted
who → tell → probe
When Blanche called DiGenova earlier this month, the two exchanged heated words over the phone and a frustrated DiGenova resigned shortly afterward, according to the source.
uncertain
DiGenova → call → source
A report by CNN, citing two people familiar with the situation, detailed the 'tense' call reportedly centered on DiGenova blocking attorneys from DOJ headquarters to help with the probe that led to the prosecutor's swift exit.
uncertain
that → cite → exit
The Daily Mail also confirmed that disagreements over DiGenova's denied request for a SCIF in Florida, a secured room to review classified materials, led to breaking point.
asserted
disagreements → confirm → point
When asked about DiGenova's sudden resignation during a recent White House press briefing, Blanche dodged a direct response.
asserted
Blanche → ask → response
'I don't want to talk about communications I have with prosecutors.
asserted
I → want → prosecutors
It's not fair to the process,' he stated as he quickly turned to another question.
asserted
he → state → question
The 'grand conspiracy' probe was launched to determine whether US intelligence and law enforcement officials were part of a years-long plot against Donald Trump
Attorney General Todd Blanche inherited the case from then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was fired earlier this year
But inside the Justice Department's headquarters, the flurry of headlines suggested what longtime career officials had known for months: The 'grand conspiracy' probe that the president has obsessed over, publicly and privately - for the better part of the last six years – is all but dead.
'
uncertain
president → launch → years
This case was initiated to make the president and the public think something is happening down there, when in reality, it's not,' said one DOJ official.
asserted
official → initiate → reality
However, a DOJ official disputed the notion that the case in Florida is stalled and has no support from main justice.
asserted
case → dispute → justice
The official did not provide a comment on Blanche and DiGenova's reported explosive call.
asserted
official → provide → Blanche
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter and another attorney traveled down to Florida after DiGenova's departure to check in on progress, a law enforcement official familiar with the matter said.
asserted
official → act → matter
This report is based on conversations with five current and former Justice Department officials, former prosecutors, and others with knowledge of the investigation.
asserted
report → base → investigation
In Miami, the probe had been hitting dead ends for months, sources tell the Daily Mail.
asserted
sources → hit → Mail
Maria Medetis Long, a senior career prosecutor, was reported by CNN to have been taken off the case earlier this year after she expressed concerns about the strength of the evidence.
asserted
she → report → evidence
A coterie of Trump-friendly names has since been assigned to the probe, including Kurt Olsen, a former White House official and 2020 election denier.
asserted
coterie → assign → Olsen
Olsen did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.
asserted
Olsen → respond → comment
'There have been several prosecutors moved aside because they had the temerity to express that they did not want to move forward with this case,' Kenneth Wainstein, Brennan's defense attorney, told a federal judge in court in DC last week.
asserted
Wainstein → move → DC
Wainstein also alleged in court that there have been 'intentional efforts' by DOJ to hide possible misconduct in a 'far-reaching' case, citing the removal of Maria Medetis Long and the appointment of Trump-loyal prosecutors.
asserted
Wainstein → allege → prosecutors
'There's a lot of really underhanded stuff going on' in these investigations, Wainstein said.
asserted
Wainstein → be → investigations
Failure to advance the probe in Florida's Southern District was one of the contributing factors behind Pam Bondi's removal as attorney general earlier this year, as the Daily Mail previously reported.
asserted
Mail → advance → general
That, according to people familiar with his thinking, is why Blanche installed a Trump loyalist to head up the investigation in the first place.
uncertain
Blanche → accord → place
The arrangement put a buffer between his office and a politically radioactive case, letting him defer questions about its progress to DiGenova.
The Justice Department's only intervention in the case until this past week, one person said, 'has been to keep Kurt Olsen from seeing sensitive [classified] information.'
Blanche, this person added, 'does not want to touch this case at all.'
Publicly, Blanche insists nothing has changed.
asserted
nothing → put → case
Attorney Joe diGenova, a longtime Trump ally, was tapped to oversee the investigation in the Southern District of Florida
Any investigations DiGenova was leading, he said this week, are 'not going to slow down just because somebody leaves.'
asserted
somebody → tap → Florida
His office said the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Quinones, a staunch Trump ally, will take over with 'support' from the Justice Department.
asserted
Attorney → say → Department
What that support amounts to is unclear.
uncertain
amounts → amount → What
No grand jury has been summoned yet.
'
asserted
jury → summon → ?
They are going to churn, and I don't even think they'll have something to present to a grand jury,' said Harry Litman, who served as deputy assistant attorney general from 1993 to 1998.
asserted
who → go → 1998
You can't think of another case like this 'grand conspiracy' to deny Trump his civil rights because there's never been any case like it,' Wainstein added.
asserted
Wainstein → think → it
Many of the actions at the heart of the probe are roughly a decade old, and involve multiple agencies that investigated Trump, his campaign, or individuals in his orbit.
asserted
that → involve → orbit
It is unclear how one might go about establishing alleged criminal conduct, let alone "grand" or "great" conspiracy – which itself is not an existing crime under US code.
uncertain
which → go → code
Blanche, the Daily Mail understands, had sent individuals to attempt to 'rein in' DiGenova
asserted
Mail → understand → DiGenova
'There's no such thing as "great conspiracy,"' noted Litman, 'It's a wet dream for MAGA folks.
asserted
It → be → folks
'And it's a way to try and express some weird conspiracy and connection as tenuous as, say, Pizzagate, to different actors,' he said.
asserted
he → try → actors
He was referring to the debunked conspiracy theory that claimed a pedophilia ring involving high-ranking Democratic Party officials was operating out of the basement of a Washington, DC pizza parlor.
asserted
ring → refer → parlor
'It either goes totally nowhere, due to the impossibility of moving beyond the subpoena phase, or it goes to a place where it's going to, you know, crash and burn right after [an] indictment,' he added.
asserted
he → go → indictment
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
