Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Quiñones left their positions at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the same day. The move happened shortly after Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon departed and led social media users to speculate about why it was happening, drawing backlash against the duo.
According to The New Republic, Eisenberg was in charge of overseeing cases related to espionage, terrorism, and general national security. He was also reportedly involved in prosecuting John Bolton for illegally retaining classified material.
Quiñones, on the other hand, was responsible for overseeing the investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan, as well as former Cuban President Raúl Castro.
These resignations happened shortly after the Democratic Party secured control of Congress, giving it the power to request investigations, including into members of the DOJ.
Internet Comments on Justice Officials Leaving Trump Admin
The timing of these officials’ departures from the DOJ sounded very suspicious to folks on social media, who believed that people like the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida had something to hide. On r/law, one person wrote: “Ahh yes, the rats jumping ship has finally begun.”
Many others agreed with the sentiment, saying, “Nothing says we didn’t do anything wrong like running away.” Others even mocked the justice officials, cracking jokes at their expense: “Spending more time with family before they get to spend time in prison. Good plan.”
Some internet users also tried to theorize why they would be leaving so soon after the elections, and multiple people thought it had to do with cooperating in investigations against other former officials: “I think they understand that the first ones to cooperate get the best deals, and the last ones to cooperate get the worst deals. It’s snitchin time!”
One user who claimed to have worked at the DOJ tried to push back against the idea that everyone in the department was guilty of something, however: “I just retired from DOJ; there are still many good people there. Don’t discount that they just don’t want to be a part of a lousy organization anymore.”
For now, there is no indication that either official is suspected of wrongdoing, let alone facing criminal charges. While the timing of their departures has raised eyebrows, much of the speculation remains just that, with no evidence linking their resignations to criminal activity.
