The dispute ended in a furious shouting match.

Joe diGenova, a longtime ally of Donald Trump who was chosen to lead a sweeping “grand conspiracy” investigation in the Southern District of Florida, accused Attorney General Todd Blanche of blocking his own department’s probe.

Blanche appointed diGenova in April to investigate whether US intelligence and law enforcement officials—including former President Barack Obama’s CIA Director John Brennan—had participated in a years-long effort targeting Trump.

A source told the Daily Mail that Blanche had sent several people from Washington to Florida weeks earlier in an effort to “rein in” diGenova. The former prosecutor, in turn, accused Blanche of obstructing the investigation.

The two men later had a heated phone conversation earlier this month. According to the source, diGenova resigned soon afterward, frustrated by the dispute.

A report by CNN, citing two people familiar with the matter, described the call as tense. The report said the disagreement centered on diGenova’s alleged efforts to prevent attorneys from the Justice Department’s Washington headquarters from assisting with the investigation, a conflict that was followed by the prosecutor’s swift departure.

The Daily Mail also confirmed that tensions had escalated over diGenova’s unsuccessful request for a SCIF in Florida—a secure room used to examine classified information.

When asked at a recent White House press briefing about diGenova’s abrupt resignation, Blanche avoided giving a direct answer.

“I don’t want to talk about communications I have with prosecutors. It’s not fair to them. It’s not fair to the process,” he said before quickly moving on to another question.

Inside Justice Department headquarters, however, the wave of headlines appeared to confirm what longtime career officials had believed for months: The “grand conspiracy” investigation—an issue Trump has pursued publicly and privately for much of the past six years—was effectively collapsing.

“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 said.

Another DOJ official disputed the claim that the Florida investigation had stalled or lacked backing from the department’s Washington headquarters. The official declined to comment on the reported explosive phone call between Blanche and diGenova.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter and another attorney traveled to Florida after diGenova’s departure to assess the investigation’s progress, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter.

This report is based on conversations with five current and former Justice Department officials, former prosecutors and other people familiar with the investigation.

Sources told the Daily Mail that the investigation in Miami had run into repeated dead ends for months.

Maria Medetis Long, a senior career prosecutor, was reported by CNN to have been removed from the case earlier this year after raising concerns about the strength of the evidence. Since then, several figures viewed as friendly to Trump have joined the investigation, including Kurt Olsen, a former White House official and 2020 election denier.

Olsen did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for 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 Washington, DC, last week.

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.

‘There’s a lot of really underhanded stuff going on’ in these investigations, Wainstein said. 

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.

That, according to people familiar with his thinking, is why Blanche installed a Trump loyalist to head up the investigation in the first place. 

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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. 

Any investigations DiGenova was leading, he said this week, are ‘not going to slow down just because somebody leaves.’ 

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. 

What that support amounts to is unclear. No grand jury has been summoned yet. 

‘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. 

‘The “grand conspiracy” is a fiction. 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.

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.

 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. 

‘There’s no such thing as “great conspiracy,”‘ noted Litman, ‘It’s a wet dream for MAGA 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. 

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.

‘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.

Brennan, who has described the campaign as one of ‘harassment,’ has filed a countersuit in Washington seeking to preserve records in the cases against him. 

The Daily Mail contacted Brennan’s attorney for comment. 

What’s left is a hot-button case that has failed to bear fruit.

‘No one wants to talk about this case right now,’ DiGenova told the Daily Mail by phone. He did not address the circumstances around his swift departure.

It’s a sentiment echoed widely in recent months by sources with knowledge of the probe.

One senior DOJ official summed it up: ‘No one wants to touch this with a 10-foot pole.’

CNN chief Mark Thompson told employees Wednesday that he hopes to remain with the network and be “useful” to its new leadership after Paramount completes its takeover of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, The Post has learned.

Thompson spoke to CNN staff during a quarterly town hall that began shortly after 11 a.m. and ran until about 12:25 p.m. The meeting focused on the company’s performance and its editorial direction.

But Thompson also addressed the central concern hanging over the network: what will happen to CNN once Paramount takes control of Warner Bros. Discovery?

According to a CNN source, Thompson told employees he “remained very committed to CNN” and wanted to stay on if he could be “useful” to his “new bosses.”

The executive acknowledged that he did not know what David Ellison’s Paramount planned to do with CNN. He also said he had not been told what role, if any, he would have in the combined company.

Thompson and Chief Financial Officer Adam Cohn also reviewed the basic details of the proposed merger, with Cohn delivering a standard “State of the Business” update, an insider said.

A network source said Thompson additionally discussed CNN’s lawsuit, filed alongside MS NOW and Politico, against the Trump administration after it revoked their press credentials and barred their reporters from White House grounds.

During the question-and-answer session, Thompson sought to ease employees’ concerns as they pressed him for more details about the Paramount merger.

He urged staffers not to draw conclusions or speculate about Ellison’s plans, saying he did not know the answers himself.

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“I feel bad for Mark,” one staffer said. “He’s as in the dark as all of us.”

The employee said some staffers became “upset” toward the end of the meeting because Thompson was not “being more direct.”

CNN declined to comment.

CNN employees have been on edge since Paramount settled an antitrust lawsuit Monday with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, removing a major obstacle to the creation of a media giant that would own CBS News and CNN, as well as Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., HBO Max and Paramount+.

Sources told The Post earlier this week that CNN staffers fear an “inevitable bloodbath” of layoffs once the deal closes in the coming weeks.

Paramount has projected at least $6 billion in cost savings, a figure that could translate into several thousand job cuts over the months ahead.

Beyond concerns about layoffs, CNN employees are watching how CBS News has changed under Ellison’s stewardship, particularly the overhaul led by news chief Bari Weiss.

Several sources recently said they feared Weiss had “blown up” CBS News’ top-rated program, “60 Minutes,” after Scott Pelley and other correspondents were fired along with a number of senior producers. They also worried that Weiss could eventually be given oversight of CNN.

Ellison has not publicly outlined a leadership structure for CNN. Still, speculation has intensified that Weiss, who serves as editor-in-chief of CBS News, could take on authority over the network as well.

Other sources close to Ellison have dismissed that possibility, telling The Post that he is not considering such an arrangement.

A Northern Virginia real estate agent was allegedly shot and killed inside her home by her husband Tuesday, authorities said, setting off a multistate manhunt that ended with his arrest in Pennsylvania hours later.

Roger Bradford, 60, of Aldie, faces charges of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony in connection with the death of his wife, 54-year-old Lisa Bradford, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies were dispatched shortly after noon to a home in the 24000 block of Quimby Oaks Place after a relative alerted authorities, saying Bradford was allegedly involved in his wife’s death and asking them to check on the residence, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said at a Tuesday news conference.

Deputies found Lisa Bradford dead when they arrived. Her husband had already fled in a rental car.

Authorities traced the rental vehicle north, prompting a search that moved across Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania State Police found Bradford and arrested him in Bedford, Pennsylvania, at approximately 3:15 p.m.—about three hours after deputies first arrived at the Aldie home, FOX 5 DC reported.

Investigators said they believe the shooting was domestic in nature, but they had not determined whether the couple had a history of domestic incidents.

“We just don’t know,” Chapman told reporters.

A handgun was used in the killing, but police had not located the weapon by Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators were still preparing to conduct extensive searches of the couple’s home and the rental car Bradford allegedly used to leave the scene.

“We’re still in the infancy of this case,” Chapman said.

Authorities did not believe anyone else was inside the home when the shooting occurred.

The couple’s three children—two in college and one attending a local high school—had been informed of their mother’s death.

Chapman said Bradford also has a prior criminal history, although he could not immediately provide further details.

Lisa Bradford worked full time as a Northern Virginia real estate agent and had held a license since 2008, according to her Compass profile.

She earned a degree from Miami University and worked for Ford Motor Company for 10 years before entering the real estate industry.

Roger Bradford remained in Pennsylvania pending extradition to Virginia. The sheriff’s office said there was no continuing threat to the public.

The Unknown Wanderer, a man poisoned inside an Idaho church in 1982, has been identified as Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski. Investigators have also presented compelling evidence suggesting he may have been connected to the Tylenol murders, in which seven people died after taking cyanide-laced capsules.

The Ada County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) announced the breakthrough during a press conference on Wednesday morning, ending decades of speculation over the man’s identity.

Betkouski, who was from California, was found dead beneath a pew at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on December 4, 1982, after a confessional service, Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford said.

He died from cyanide poisoning—the same method used in the Tylenol murders, which claimed seven lives during the final week of September 1982.

Authorities eventually identified Betkouski through one of 30 keys recovered from his body after his death.

ACSO cold case detective Tim Cooper outlined several pieces of evidence linking Betkouski to the killings. However, he stressed that investigators had not been able to conclusively identify him as a suspect.

While working as a chemist at the highly secretive White Sands testing facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Betkouski reportedly said that poisoning capsules would be an ideal way to kill someone.

Cooper said Betkouski was fired after a disturbance at a local pharmacy and was known to have a “documented fascination” with chemistry and explosives.

A woman also died from cyanide poisoning at the facility while Betkouski worked there, although her death remains unsolved.

Years after Betkouski’s death, investigators located his family and visited his childhood home. There, they found a small bottle of cyanide that was “likely homemade,” along with a map of Chicago, Cooper said.

The cyanide found at the home was a different type from the poison used in the Tylenol murders.

Investigators also learned that Betkouski had made several calls to pharmaceutical and chemical supply companies in Pennsylvania just weeks before the Tylenol deaths.

Detective Cooper further pointed to rumors that Betkouski may have confessed inside the Catholic church shortly before his suicide.

Cooper did not disclose the details of those claims, emphasizing that they had never been verified.

According to Sheriff Clifford, Betkouski was carrying a filled keychain, a typed suicide note and $1,900 when he died.

The note said he wanted the money to cover his funeral and cremation costs. It was signed “Wm. L. Toomey.” 

Betkouski had never been reported missing. Police used the single key to trace him to Jacksonville, Florida, and then located a living relative who confirmed his identity.

Cooper said that Betkouski often talked about cyanide, referring to it as ‘a less messy way of taking a person’s life.’ 

The infamous Tylenol murders claimed the lives of seven people across the Chicago area after they ingested extra-strength Tylenol capsules that were laced with cyanide.

The youngest victim, Mary Kellerman, 12, was the first known person to die. 

Just hours later, Adam Janus, 27, died, and while his family was grieving at his home, two more of his relatives, Stanley Janus, 25, and Theresa Janus, 19, passed away after taking pills from the same bottle.

Mary McFarland, 31, Paula Price, 35, and Mary Reiner, 27, also died after taking the tainted pills.

Their deaths triggered a nationwide Tylenol recall and sparked the invention of mandatory tamper-evident safety seals in consumer goods and pharmaceutical industries.

The murders remain unsolved nearly 44 years later. 

Over that time, investigators identified some suspects, but only one man, James Lewis, was convicted. 

Lewis wrote a letter around the time of the deadly poisonings to Johnson & Johnson – the former makers of Tylenol – stating that the deaths would stop if the company wired $10 million to a Chicago bank account. 

He admitted to writing the letter, but claimed it was only to embarrass a travel company that the bank account was tied to.

In the end, he was convicted of extortion in connection with the letter and sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

He was released in October 1995 and died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 2023. 

Another man, Roger Arnold, was also investigated by police after he confessed to possessing potassium cyanide – the same substance used in the 1982 murders. 

A bar owner, Marty Sinclair, also reported hearing the dock worker discussing killing people with white powder. 

He was held several times by police, but never charged. 

Arnold did, however, serve time for shooting a man whom he thought was Sinclair, in the summer of 1983. 

He was convicted in January 1984 and served 15 years of his 30-year sentence. Arnold died in June 2008. 

After his body was exhumed, it was used for DNA testing in the Tylenol case and did not match any of the DNA found on the bottles. 

Scottie Scheffler is a familiar presence in the public eye, appearing nearly every weekend as he competes in PGA Tour events.

His wife, Meredith, generally keeps a lower profile. Still, she is often seen supporting Scheffler when the world’s top golfer is celebrating another tournament victory.

Scheffler is set to represent Team USA at the Presidents Cup this weekend. Before the competition began, he and Meredith attended the Presidents Cup Gala on Tuesday night, making a stylish appearance ahead of the event.

Scheffler chose a polished blue suit, pairing it with a white dress shirt and red tie. Meredith turned heads in a striking gold dress accented with brown trim.

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Public appearances by Scottie and Meredith are always a treat for fans, especially as Meredith is often occupied at home caring for the couple’s two young sons, Bennett and Remy.

Meredith made headlines ahead of The Masters earlier this year when she attended the prestigious tournament just a few weeks after giving birth to Remy.

The U.S. team won its 10th consecutive Presidents Cup in 2024. Scheffler will play a pivotal role as the Americans pursue an 11th straight victory, with Meredith expected to be there to celebrate if Team USA gets the job done.