A Resignation That Wasn’t, and a Case That Keeps Losing Prosecutors

There is a particular kind of departure that is not quite a departure—a resignation that turns out to be a reassignment, a farewell that becomes a clarification. On Monday, Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who helped lead efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of President Donald Trump, sent an email to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida announcing his intention to step down from the “grand conspiracy” investigation. By Wednesday, Justice Department officials were clarifying that Olsen had not left his job at all. He remains on the DOJ payroll, just not on that case .

The confusion unfolded publicly over several days. CBS News reported Monday that Olsen had resigned from the Justice Department entirely, based on sources familiar with his departure. Other outlets followed. Then, after multiple media stories ran, Olsen called department officials to clarify that he had only intended to step down from the grand conspiracy investigation, not leave the government altogether. Officials in Miami and Washington had initially misinterpreted his email as a full resignation .

At a press conference on Wednesday, Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked about the reports. “Kurt Olsen has not resigned,” Blanche said, adding that there was an “incredible amount of fake news” circulating. When pressed on whether Olsen had left the investigation, Blanche replied: “He’s still employed exactly where he was before.” A department official later clarified that while Olsen remains on staff as senior counsel, he will not be assigned to the grand conspiracy matter .

What prompted the departure from the case appears to be a security clearance issue. Two sources told CBS News that a problem arose with Olsen’s clearance before he submitted his email resigning from the investigation. The lack of a security clearance meant Olsen could not effectively work on the grand conspiracy probe, which involves reviewing classified evidence related to the intelligence assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 election and the investigation into Trump’s retention of classified records .

Olsen’s path to the Justice Department was unconventional. He spent much of his career in securities litigation and had no experience with election law before joining efforts to challenge Trump’s 2020 defeat. He worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the Supreme Court to overturn the election results, and later assisted Trump allies in Arizona, where he was sanctioned for making false statements in a 2022 lawsuit . He joined the Justice Department after serving in the White House as director of election security and integrity .

The grand conspiracy investigation has been marked by turnover. Olsen is the third prosecutor this year to step down from working on the case, following the departure of Joseph diGenova weeks earlier. The investigation, which has so far not resulted in any charges, continues with a diminished team .

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Sources: CBS News, CNN, Associated Press, Election Law Blog