Top Trump official pressured DOJ to 'pursue president’s foes' — even as career prosecutors refused

FBI director Kash Patel pressured the Justice Department (DOJ) to open a criminal probe into how FBI officials handled classified documents tied to the Russia‑2016 investigation. But career prosecutors quietly declined, saying the case had no prosecutable evidence, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Despite this, DOJ leaders pushed for the case. They wanted those involved in the FBI’s handling of classified documents during and after the Russia investigation to be prosecuted.

The report noted that in the Western District of Virginia, U.S. Attorney Todd Gilbert was ordered to start a grand jury but balked after career staff said the case lacked substance. He was told to remove a veteran prosecutor, Zachary Lee, who had raised doubts.

Soon after Gilbert became U.S. attorney in western Virginia, DOJ leaders told him to launch the probe. After examining the facts, Gilbert informed superiors he saw no basis for a grand jury. Attorney General Pam Bondi's aides and DOJ officials faulted veteran prosecutor Zachary Lee, accusing him of steering Gilbert’s judgment, per the report.

Robert Tracci replaced him as acting U.S. attorney. Lee left the office this month.

"The departures of Todd Gilbert and his deputy in the Western District of Virginia show the pressure being brought on prosecutors to pursue the president’s perceived foes," the report noted.

The report further noted that the investigation included interviews of former FBI officials. But no grand jury indictments followed, and the inquiry appears stalled.

In another Virginia district, key prosecutions moved forward only after pressure, even though career prosecutors thought the cases against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey were weak.

The report further claimed that to ease fears, witnesses were interviewed at their lawyers’ offices, not government buildings. Defense attorneys involved say they struggle to see what crime was ever alleged.

According to the report, one witness was told the investigation was ordered by Patel.