A former senior federal prosecutor who served in the Biden administration has been hit with a criminal investigation referral asking the Justice Department to look into whether she misled federal agents about her role in an investigation, Fox News Digital has learned.
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Digital → serve → investigation
Jina Choi joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California in late 2023, shortly after which Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey tapped her to lead its Corporate and Securities Fraud Section, which handles major corporate and securities cases across the Bay Area, including Silicon Valley.
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which → join → Valley
Before joining the office, however, Choi had represented IRL, a social-media startup co-founded by Abraham Shafi.
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Choi → join → Shafi
The company was built around organizing and connecting people through events.
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company → build → events
IRL shut down in 2023 after a board-directed investigation concluded that 95% of its users were likely bots, a finding Shafi disputed.
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Shafi → shut → finding
Shafi was later indicted in 2025 on federal fraud and obstruction charges.
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Shafi → indict → charges
The referral represents an unusually aggressive challenge to the conduct of a former prosecutor involved in the broader matter.
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referral → represent → matter
Cully Stimson, acting director of the Heritage Foundation’s Legal Policy Center and himself a former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that, while it is common for defense teams to attack prosecutors, resorting to a criminal investigation referral is rare.
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resorting → act → referral
The referral, sent on Tuesday by a lawyer Shafi retained separately from his defense, turns on whether Choi remained involved in the IRL investigation after joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office despite being screened from the matter because of her prior representation of the company.
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Choi → send → company
The Justice Department generally has no obligation to respond to referrals like this.
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Department → have → this
Prosecutors said Choi was walled off from the federal investigation involving IRL and Shafi.
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Choi → say → IRL
But Shafi’s lawyer now alleges that internal communications and an FBI interview report show she remained involved in the matter and later understated that involvement to federal agents.
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she → allege → agents
The FBI declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
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FBI → decline → Digital
In the criminal referral sent to the Justice Department on Tuesday, Shafi’s lawyer asked federal authorities to investigate whether Choi made false statements about her role in the investigation into IRL.
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Choi → send → IRL
The federal investigation into IRL predated Choi’s arrival at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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investigation → predate → Office
Prosecutors have said she was screened from the matter because of her prior representation of the company.
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she → say → company
Shafi’s defense claims to have obtained internal emails sent by Choi as well as FBI interview memoranda recounting a conversation she had with federal agents from the prosecution.
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she → claim → prosecution
Shafi’s lawyer argues the documents contradict Choi’s account to agents.
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documents → argue → agents
While Choi’s communications are quoted or described in public court filings, the government filed the underlying email exhibits under seal or as sealed exhibit slipsheets.
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government → quote → slipsheets
As a result, the public cannot independently inspect the original documents or assess their full context.
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public → inspect → context
Choi worked for IRL as outside counsel before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to court filings.
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Choi → work → filings
During this time, Shafi’s defense alleged in its motion to dismiss the case against him that Choi attempted to get federal authorities to target Shafi to shield other stakeholders at the firm.
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authorities → allege → firm
The government denied this characterization, acknowledging that she advocated that the firm itself not be targeted, but disputing that she wanted the government to go after Shafi.
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government → deny → Shafi
The tech founder’s defense argues that Choi’s prior representation of IRL created a conflict of interest.
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representation → argue → interest
Prosecutors have said she was walled off from the investigation because of that prior relationship.
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she → say → relationship
As of publishing, no ruling has been made finding that Choi operated under a conflict of interest that warrants dismissal.
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that → make → dismissal
Shafi’s lawyer argues that documents they obtained tell a different story.
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they → argue → story
The FBI, which was investigating the Shafi case, interviewed Choi in July and questioned her about her role in the IRL investigation, according to the referral.
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which → investigate → referral
Choi allegedly told agents that she did "not have any kind of role in the investigation."
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she → tell → investigation
An internal message purportedly obtained by the defense, however, quotes her as saying, "I talked to [her predecessor]] and I wanted to see if it would be ok to add [him] to the IRL team to help move it along."
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it → obtain → it
In other instances, documents obtained by the defense allegedly show that she inquired about the name of the FBI agent working on the IRL case and that she sent press coverage of the case against Shafi to other prosecutors.
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she → obtain → prosecutors
At one point during her FBI interview, Shafi's lawyer claims Choi said that she was not aware "who was assigned to the case team."
According to the criminal investigation referral, Choi "admitted keeping a written case tracker on which ‘the SHAFI investigation was listed.’"
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investigation → claim → which
The defense claims that the U.S. Attorney’s Office refused to turn over the case tracker by describing it as a "privileged and internal work product."
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Office → claim → product
Shafi was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and obstruction a few months after Choi left the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Choi → charge → Office
The charges stem from allegations that he misled investors by misrepresenting user growth on his platform.
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he → stem → platform
Prosecutors allege that he used paid advertising to attract people to IRL, then passed off the resulting growth as organic while raising about $170 million from investors.
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he → allege → investors
He also stands accused of misusing investors’ funds for clothing, home furnishings, travel, hotels and wedding-related costs.
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He → accuse → clothing
The founder’s lawyer argues that Choi’s alleged false statements to federal agents, coupled with her prior representation of IRL, taint the charges against Shafi.
Shafi’s defense has a strong incentive to prove that Choi acted improperly, as doing so could seriously derail the prosecution of their client.
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doing → argue → client
"Here, the defense's allegations are troubling if true, because if their allegations end up being true, there was spillage," Stimson told Fox News Digital.
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Stimson → end → Digital
"And that would mean some other members of that office are therefore conflicted, and it could result in the entire office being conflicted if a judge found that the taint was so bad that it permeated the whole office."
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it → mean → office
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
