Two federal prosecutors have resigned from the Southern District of Florida (SDFL) after reportedly being asked to join a politically charged investigation involving former President Barack Obama, ex-CIA Director John Brennan, and other former intelligence officials.
According to MSNBC, the resignations prompted an emergency, division-wide meeting on Monday afternoon, called by U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, a Trump appointee overseeing the SDFL’s major crimes division. The atmosphere, sources said, was tense.
“Everyone is on pins and needles,” one prosecutor told the outlet. “No one wants to be dragged into something that could compromise their ethics or career.”
A Case That’s Stirring Alarm
At the heart of the uproar is a newly launched criminal probe — described by insiders as a sprawling “conspiracy” investigation — targeting several of Trump’s political adversaries. The Justice Department reportedly approved more than 30 subpoenas, including for Brennan and former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, all of whom were previously cleared in earlier federal inquiries.
One of the prosecutors who resigned reportedly told colleagues they “could not take part in something that would violate their ethical responsibilities.” Another source described the move as “a line in the sand” for career prosecutors uneasy about the direction of the investigation.
Adding to internal unease, several of the subpoenas were signed not by assigned line prosecutors, but by Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Manolo Reboso, the third-highest-ranking official in the SDFL. Reboso’s position typically focuses on operations and administration, not direct prosecutorial work — an irregularity that raised eyebrows among legal observers.
“This is not how subpoenas of this magnitude are normally handled,” one former federal prosecutor told MSNBC. “When leadership starts signing off on politically sensitive subpoenas instead of assigned prosecutors, it’s usually a red flag.”
Why This Case Matters
The subpoenas seek records tied to the 2016 Russian election interference investigation, covering documents, emails, and text messages from July 2016 through February 2017 — a period that has already been scrutinized by multiple independent reviews.
Both Special Counsel John Durham’s probe and the Justice Department Inspector General’s investigation under Michael Horowitz found no criminal wrongdoing by senior intelligence or law enforcement officials, including Brennan. That history has led some inside the department to dismiss the new subpoenas as “performative” or politically motivated.
Legal experts say the resignations — while rare — could signal growing resistance among career DOJ staff who fear being drawn into what they see as a misuse of prosecutorial power.
The Broader Implications
The Southern District of Florida has become a flashpoint in the political and legal battles of the post-Trump era. It’s the same office that oversaw classified documents charges against Trump himself — and now, critics warn, it risks becoming a stage for retaliatory prosecutions.
If the reported subpoenas are part of a broader push to investigate former officials once accused of “spying” on Trump’s 2016 campaign — a claim long debunked by multiple agencies — it could represent one of the most politically sensitive moves by the Justice Department in years.
For now, the DOJ has declined to comment, but the internal fractures are unmistakable. As one senior official reportedly told MSNBC, “There’s a sense that something unprecedented is happening — and not everyone wants their name attached to it.”
The Cost of Political Pressure
Federal prosecutors rarely resign in protest — and when they do, it usually signals something deeply unsettling within the justice system. The Justice Department has built its reputation on the independence of its line prosecutors. If even a handful feel coerced into politically driven cases, that foundation begins to crack.
At stake isn’t just one investigation — it’s the public’s trust in the impartiality of American justice. The moment prosecutors start fearing political assignments more than criminal ones, it becomes less about law enforcement and more about loyalty tests.
The resignations in Miami may seem like an internal dust-up. But history has shown that moments like this often foreshadow something much larger.
