Joe diGenova Reveals Why He Left Spygate Probe: “Some Lanes Got Crossed”
Veteran prosecutor Joe diGenova is offering a limited explanation for his abrupt departure from the Justice Department investigation into whether federal officials conspired to target President Donald Trump.
DiGenova spent five months leading the Southern District of Florida probe before resigning Thursday. He says he made the decision himself after a dispute with Justice Department headquarters, commonly known as Main Justice.
The investigation has focused on possible criminal conduct involving former Obama-era intelligence officials, including John Brennan. DiGenova and his wife and legal partner, Victoria Toensing, have long criticized the handling of the Russia investigation and what they view as efforts to undermine Trump.
In a Friday phone conversation with NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly, diGenova acknowledged that a specific event came before his resignation. But he refused to explain what happened, saying it involved confidential administrative conduct inside the department.
“Everybody was in their lane, and then some lanes got crossed, and then I decided to leave,” diGenova said.
He would not say whether he had sidelined anyone sent to the Florida investigation from Washington. Instead, he said he was keeping the details private as a courtesy to the department.
“As a courtesy to the Department — and let me underscore, as a courtesy to the Department — I am not going to discuss that.”
DiGenova added, “The days leading up to my resignation are shrouded in the secrecy of administrative behavior, and they will remain so.”
He described disagreements between Main Justice and U.S. attorneys’ offices as a normal part of federal investigations. Those disputes can involve resources, investigative direction, and decisions about who should be charged and when.
“All of that stuff is normal fodder for the relationship between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the department,” diGenova said.
But he made clear that his resignation was not forced.
“I wasn’t asked to resign,” diGenova said. “I decided I was going to resign because having been a U.S. attorney, having been an assistant U.S. attorney, having been a special counsel of the United States, having been a counselor to an attorney general, I know when it’s time to leave.”
His departure came after a New York Post report attributed a blunt comment to him: “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem.” DiGenova later told The Associated Press that the remark had been taken out of context. He insisted that prosecutors had evidence supporting the cases, while arguing that the investigation could not be rushed.
“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.”
I asked whether he'd sidelined anyone from Main Justice.
“As a courtesy to the Department — and let me underscore, as a courtesy to the Department — I am not going to discuss that.”
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) September 11, 2026
DiGenova also said Toensing, who is 84, is leaving the Justice Department. She had been part of a broader team that included people described in the report as proponents of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Another issue involved the lack of a SCIF, or Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. DiGenova said such a facility is “very, very important conducting a case with classified information,” but maintained that his team continued working without one.
He was emphatic that the group followed federal prosecution rules throughout the investigation.
“I want to underscore that we were following the principles of federal prosecution all along the way, and we did that. We were moving smartly, and I underscore we were moving smartly, and then things, you know, got where they got.”
Despite his resignation, diGenova expressed full confidence in the Southern District of Florida prosecutors who remain on the case. The next phase of the investigation will now proceed without him and Toensing, while the details behind the break with Main Justice remain sealed by administrative confidentiality.
“I have no doubt that I was going to be able to take every one of these cases across the finish line because we we had put them in the perfect posture to proceed," Joe diGenova told me.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) September 11, 2026