Kurt Olsen, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, and at least six other prosecutors have left the so-called “grand conspiracy” investigation in the Southern District of Florida, dealing a significant setback to the Justice Department’s months-long inquiry.
The departures, first reported by the Daily Mail, come after weeks of uncertainty surrounding the Miami-based investigation and the abrupt resignation earlier this month of another Trump ally, Joseph diGenova.
Attorney General Todd Blanche selected diGenova in April to examine allegations that US intelligence and law enforcement officials—including former President Barack Obama’s CIA Director John Brennan—had participated in a yearslong effort targeting Trump.
The prosecutors’ exits have raised new questions about the future and direction of the far-reaching Florida investigation.
The departures also reportedly followed pressure from Justice Department officials in Washington to obtain indictments before the midterm elections, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Such demands appear to conflict with longstanding Justice Department practice, which generally discourages overt investigative action in politically sensitive cases during the 60 to 90 days before an election.
The source said the pressure from Main Justice to pursue indictments was central to the prosecutors’ departures, particularly after a contentious meeting at the Southern District of Florida earlier this month.
Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks on stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention
Attorney Joe diGenova, a longtime Trump ally, was tapped to oversee the investigation in the Southern District of Florida
“They started asking questions, and then they started giving orders to line attorneys about how to conduct the grand jury,” the person told the Daily Mail. “The attorneys revolted, and then objections were made to the department, and then that’s when everything exploded.”
The Daily Mail was told that between seven and eight prosecutors had left the team, including Olsen.
A second source disputed that account, telling the Daily Mail that the number of departures was four. That figure included two US attorneys whose temporary assignments had ended and a JAG attorney transferred to another role.
The source added that two more prosecutors had recently been recruited for the investigation and were expected to begin within the next week or two.
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Asked about the probe’s status, a Justice Department spokesperson told the Daily Mail that department leadership “has full confidence in the great team of experienced prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida led by US Attorney Quiñones.”
“The Department’s work on this investigation continues, and we are grateful to the talented team of attorneys, which continues to grow, doing the work each day.”
President Donald Trump, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speak to reporters at the White House
Olsen’s departure adds to the uncertainty surrounding the long-running investigation. It comes after the Daily Mail reported exclusively last week that the so-called grand conspiracy probe was in serious trouble, although Justice Department officials maintained that the inquiry would continue.
Maria Medetis Long, a senior career prosecutor, was reportedly removed from the case earlier this year after raising concerns about the strength of the evidence.
She was replaced by a group of Trump-aligned figures, including diGenova, a longtime Trump associate, and Olsen, a former White House official who promoted false claims about the 2020 election.
At the time of publication, both diGenova and Olsen had left the investigation.
Olsen did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
The Daily Mail previously reported that the probe in Miami had been hitting dead ends for months – suggesting that the so-called ‘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.
‘This case was initiated to make the president and the public think something is happening down there, when in reality, it’s not,’ one DOJ official told the Daily Mail last week.
A DOJ official previously disputed the notion that the case in Florida is stalled and has no support from Main Justice.
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 told the Daily Mail last week.