Wave of resignations from US Justice Department after midterms

Washington: Several senior US Justice Department officials have resigned, including its civil rights chief and a prosecutor investigating allegations of conspiracy against President Donald Trump.

US Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump, announced on Thursday that he had accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon.

In this role, Dhillon was directly involved in unsuccessful attempts to obtain voter registration lists from some 30 states ahead of this week's midterm elections that dealt heavy defeats to Trump's Republican Party.


In her resignation letter, cited by US media outlets, Dillon said that she submitted it in October and agreed to remain in her position until the election.

Blanche also announced on Friday the resignations of Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg, and Jason Reding Quinones, US attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Quinones oversaw an investigation into former intelligence officials whom Trump accused of seeking to remove him from power.

The Justice Department under Trump has pursued cases against a number of perceived enemies, and several prosecutors have lost their jobs over their reluctance or inability to bring charges.

In one high profile case brought by the department, James Comey, the former director of the FBI, was indicted in April for allegedly threatening Trump's life in an Instagram post of seashells.