On January 6, the spokesperson for the US Department of Justice confirmed that the lead prosecutor in the criminal case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of unlawful possession of classified documents had left the Justice Department before Trump’s return to the White House.
Jay Bratt, a senior national security official at the Justice Department, left the department on Friday. He had previously been assigned to work in the office of special counsel Jack Smith.
President Trump is set to return to the White House on January 20 and has vowed to reform federal government departments thoroughly.
As Bratt departed, Justice Department lawyers, especially those involved in investigating Trump’s documents and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, are also weighing their future in Trump’s second administration.
Trump has pledged to pardon at least some of the 1600+ individuals charged in the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill incident, and has suggested that Liz Cheney, the former Congresswoman and chief Republican on the congressional panel investigating the event, should herself be investigated.
At the age of 65, Bratt played a key role in the investigation into sensitive national security documents that Trump brought to his Mar-a-Lago estate and social club after the end of his first presidential term in 2021.
Following court approval, the FBI conducted a search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 and found around 100 classified documents, sparking outrage from Trump and his supporters.
When special counsel Smith took over the investigation, Bratt joined his office to ensure prosecution of Trump, accusing him of intentionally withholding documents and obstructing the US government from reclaiming them.
Trump has pleaded not guilty, claiming that this case and all other criminal cases against him are politically motivated and aimed at undermining his political movement.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon, nominated by Trump, dismissed all charges in July 2024 after finding that Smith had been improperly appointed as special counsel.
Prosecutors appealed Judge Cannon’s decision, but dropped the appeal against Trump after he won the election, stating they would seek to reopen the charges against Trump’s two aides, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, accusing them of obstructing the investigation.
Last month, Bratt and others from Smith’s office formally appealed to the federal prosecutor in South Florida.
Stanley Woodward, Nauta’s defense lawyer, argued that Bratt acted improperly at a meeting in 2022, suggesting that this behavior was part of Bratt’s attempt to coerce Nauta into cooperating with the government.
Prosecutors denied any misconduct by Bratt.
(This article is based on reporting from Reuters)