By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A lead prosecutor on the criminal case accusing Donald Trump of illegally holding onto classified documents has left the U.S. Justice Department ahead of the president-elect’s return to office, a department spokesperson confirmed on Monday.
Jay Bratt, a senior national security official at the department, who was detailed to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office, retired from the department on Friday.
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Trump, who is set to return to the presidency on Jan. 20, and his allies have vowed to investigate political opponents and others who have leveled allegations of misconduct against him.
Bratt, 65, played a pivotal role in the investigation into sensitive national security documents that Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago residence and social club following the end of his first term as president in 2021.
The investigation led to a court-approved FBI search of the Florida club in August 2022 that turned up about 100 classified documents and enraged Trump and his supporters.
Bratt joined Smith’s office when the special counsel took over the investigation and helped secure an indictment accusing Trump of knowingly keeping the documents and obstructing U.S. government attempts to retrieve them. Bratt took the lead in arguing for the prosecution at several court hearings before Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
Trump pleaded not guilty and argued that the case, and other criminal cases against him, were politically motivated attempts to damage him and his political movement.
Cannon, a Trump nominee, dismissed all charges in July 2024 after finding that Smith was improperly appointed as special counsel.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Chizu Nomiyama)
